The Reason
by bbqmice
Summary: Whatever the reason, people make choices and the results can take you to places you never thought you'd be.Rating is T for later chapters. It's not all doom and gloom! I've tried to put in a bit of humor, a bit of action, but it will get angsty!
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Reason

Spoilers: General for everything

Disclaimer: Atlantis is not mine. I'm just having a bit of fun!

Notes: This is set somewhere towards the end of season 4 I guess. This will be a sparky fic - you have been warned! It's the first multi-chapter fic I've done, so bear with me and please be kind! I was having trouble coming up with a name, but when I happened to hear the Hoobastank song The Reason, it just seemed to feel right. Also, I swear, hand on my heart, I've run this through a spell check, but it was pants! So apologies if something has slipped by.Okay folks, here goes. Hope someone out there likes it...

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Chapter One 

Coming to stand next to Rodney, Elizabeth watched as he started the dialling sequence. This morning he had been going through a new list of gate addresses and they were finally coming to the end of the tedious procedure. All that would be left to do now would be to assign teams to explore these new worlds. She mused as the symbols were lighting up on the gate, that it was a nice change for the teams to take the time to enjoy the actual exploration of somewhere new instead of getting chased off the planet by a battalion of hungry Wraith.

Times had changed since their arrival in the Pegasus galaxy and while in no way was the threat from the Wraith completely obliterated, or the threat from the rest of this aggressive galaxy for that matter, they were happy just to take things as they come. Still it seemed as though they were living from one crisis to another. It certainly kept them on their toes, that's for sure, but there was more of a balance these days. The rest of their neighbours having accepted that they were here to stay, like it or not, had mellowed considerably. They were more considerate and only picked a fight with them one at a time, leaving a bit of space between, so this generation of the people of Atlantis could actually do the thing they had come here to do - explore.

She was jolted out of her reverie by the flash the gate made once the wormhole was established.

"Okay, we've got a connection." Rodney announced.

"Send the probe."

Swinging to the other side of the console on his chair, he gave the command to send the probe through the event horizon. "Probe is on transit. Will arrive in three, two, one. Should be receiving telemetry in just a second. Ah, here we go."

Turning to face Elizabeth, Dr. Rodney McKay now had a self congratulatory grin plastered on his face, like this was one of the greatest achievements of his career even though he'd spent his entire morning doing this exact same thing more than a dozen times. The only difference now though was that there was someone new to impress since the staff assisting him had long ago ceased to care.

"Good job Rodney."

It still amused Elizabeth at how a grown man and a genius no less, could have the temperament of a child. This man had performed feats of the likes no one on this expedition could ever imagine, was an intricate part of her premiere team that frequented strange new planets and his ideas had saved the lives of just about everyone one Atlantis and yet if you didn't give him a pat on the back for something as unexceptional as directing a MALP through the gate, his demeanour could change instantly, and the only way that could describe would happen, was that he was in a big huff. She'd realized early on however that you mustn't feed the beast too much. Too many compliments would only result in inflating his ego until he was unbearable to be around, so where others had taken to ignoring him she'd found a compromise that had probably saved them all.

Satisfied that his efforts had not gone unnoticed, Rodney placed his attention back on the work at hand. The readings were coming in from the probe, "Well we've got a good environment on this one, nice breathable atmosphere and from what the pictures are showing us, this place is most definitely populated. Here look at this," remembering that it's polite to share, especially with one's friend and boss, he moved so his head wasn't completely obscuring the small screen.

The video feedback revealed the whole area around the stargate looked like a construction site. There was what appeared to be a large crane in the process of being set up not too far from where the probe sat. Wooden buildings, large and small were dotted about the grassy field, only half finished, some looking somewhat like barns or warehouses, a couple of the smaller ones off to the side could have been the alien equivalent to port-a-loos.

As the probe pushed on they could see there were deserted carts half loaded with materials and some rather crude looking tools lying here and there. The whole place looked like a ghost town, as if all the workmen had suddenly just up and left their things where they were working. Guiding the probe carefully around the disarray of the work yard, along the only obvious well worn path, it cleared the last building. The field ended and the track narrowed as it turned and started heading down towards the large town that was now clearly lain out in the valley below them.

"All that and not a person or any livestock in sight. Where've they all gone?" he demanded.

"Maybe its lunchtime." she suggested with a tight lipped smile that let him know she was kidding. He was right though, all this civilisation and no people. Then again they'd not even been there five minutes.

"Oh that would just be typical."

She braced herself as she felt one of his rants coming on.

He sucked in a deep breath and began. "I guess it's universal then. It doesn't matter what galaxy you're in, workmen are lazy wherever you go. They're all too busy eating their sandwiches and drinking their coffee to actually get any work done."

"Sound like anyone we know?"

The comment had come from Colonel Sheppard who had managed to get close enough to stand behind Rodney without being noticed as the man dealt out his judgement on the missing inhabitants. Elizabeth had seen him approach and had kept quiet when John had arched his eyebrows in a silent request for her not to say anything. She knew the two men could bicker like children and each was constantly trying to bait the other, but despite it all, this was how the two unlikely friends interacted most of the time. Their taunts and teasing had on occasion pushed the two of them to accomplish the impossible, through sheer stubbornness to prove the other wrong, but more often than not, did nothing more than cause trouble and while she was usually inclined to stay out of their petty arguments, she felt Rodney had walked right into this one so she kept quiet. Besides it was his own fault - coffee and sandwiches? That was a trap of his own making!

Before they started trading insults she stepped in."What brings you here John. I thought you were off duty until tomorrow morning?"

"Well I just thought I might drop in and see how things are doing?" Even he didn't look like he believed his reason for coming by as he rubbed a hand through his already messy hair.

"You thought you might drop in?" she repeated his words."You mean after just three days off, with the whole of the city at you're disposal, you're bored?"

"Out of my mind." He was almost pouting now. "Everyone else is either working or doing their own projects or on the mainland."

"John, Teyla offered you the chance to go with her and Ronon to the mainland. Why don't you just take another jumper out and go meet up with them? I don't think they'd mind you joining them and I'm sure Jinto would be pleased to see you again."

Apparently he'd already thought of this and the idea was unacceptable because he was shaking his head before she'd even finished.

"Nah, they'd know I just got bored and all I'll get is how I should have come in the first place. For a few hours it's not worth the hassle."

Elizabeth just shook her head at his bizarre reasoning. Rodney felt that John's obvious boredom made up the earlier jibe, so willing to quit while he was ahead, didn't say anything either.

Bringing them back to the matter at hand, John pointed at the screen. "So what've you got here?"

Rodney perked up at the interest in his work. "I've just finished the list of potential worlds to explore. Before you so rudely interrupted, we were discussing the lack of people in the immediate vicinity."

Again Elizabeth found herself stepping to deflect the impending squabble. "Well, Major Lorne's team is due to ship out later this afternoon. When he finds some of the locals, he can ask them."

"Hey, hey, hey. That's not fair, you said I could get first dibs on the new planets." Rodney had jumped out of his chair, crossed his arms defiantly over his chest and was moments away from actually stamping his foot in protest.

"McKay, you are such a child. There's plenty of places to choose from." John couldn't resist, sometimes Rodney made it too easy.

"And who do you think just spent the morning going through them all?" He turned a little to face John and added in a much lower, faster, conspiratorial voice meant for just the two of them. "Trust me Colonel, out of all the places I've seen this morning at least this one holds a little mystery. If you thought you were bored before, wait until we get packed off to one of those other worlds."

"Really?"

Rodney gave him a knowing nod

The threat of further boredom had won John over. "Y'know Elizabeth..."

Both men turned to look back at her as John spoke and realised she too had her arms firmly crossed over her chest, a stance she often took when she was not best pleased, and she'd narrowed her eyes to give them a well practised, disapproving glare which neither man could tell if it was genuine. She waited for one of them to continue.

John found his tongue first, knowing no amount of fobbing her off would work and went straight to pleading. "Please can we go here? Lorne's team just got back from a trading visit on some nice sunny planet with pretty locals. Rodney did find this place. It's got to be our turn for something a little more exciting than mineral surveys. Please Elizabeth?"

The two men before her, the leading physicist in Atlantis and her ranking Military officer were both looking decidedly sheepish after resorting to behaving like infants to get their own way. She let the glare she was holding them with slide from her face and replaced it with a small smile. "You can leave in the morning." She loved the effortless way a simple stare could make the two of them work so hard for something she'd let them do if they'd just asked liked reasonable adults. These two could wind each other up all they liked, but she could get the better of both of them.

Wearing smiles of their own now Rodney informed John, "Oh yeah, we're gonna need a jumper for this one. What? Don't look at me like that, you saw how far away that town was. And what if what scared away all the locals is still there? We'll need a quick way out and even you can't run the distance back up the hill to the gate!"

"Okay Rodney calm down, we'll take a jumper." John passed a quick look with Elizabeth checking there was a jumper free in the morning. A slight nod from her told him it was fine and the mirth in her eyes told John she too was amused by how quickly the good doctor had managed to get himself in such a fluster without either of them saying a word.

"Yes well, I uh...I think we're done here now." With that he turned to face the consoles and shut down the wormhole.

Now his composure was fully intact once again, he regarded his friends with a smile. "I don't know about you, but I've not had a thing to eat all morning. I'm practically starving here."

With not so much as another word he moved to leave for the mess hall, his last statement intended as an invitation to join him.

Elizabeth and John shared a look then she held out a hand gesturing after the hungry man, "Shall we?"

With a small chuckle and a shake of his head, he led the way to the mess.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Inside the waiting puddle jumper, Ronan and Teyla sat quietly talking among themselves while John wore a trench with his pacing outside the jumper bay. A burst of static in his ear stopped him in his tracks, proceeded by the disembodied voice of one of the male techs over his radio.

"Jumper One, this is control, you're all clear for a go."

John tapped his earpiece on to reply, "Copy that control, but ah, we've been delayed."

"Jumper One, this is Weir, what's the hold up?" The radio crackled again.

"The hold up? That would by McKay." John ground out the words. Despite having told the doctor to be there an extra half hour earlier than the others, he still hadn't arrived. "It's unbelievable, no matter what I tell him he's always late." Unable to stand still any longer, he started retracing his steps up and down the side of the jumper, stealing another glance at his watch.

"What's his excuse today?"

"As soon as he gets here that'll be the first thing I ask him. Apparently Dr. McKay has neglected to turn his radio on this morning." John fumed. "If he's not here in the next five minutes I'm leaving without him."

Just as the words left his mouth the bay doors opened to admit the missing scientist, struggling to balance the data pad that seemed permanently fixed to his person in one hand, the coffee flask and a couple of the distinctive brown paper bags too many of their meals came from, in the other. He was completely oblivious to the dark mood hanging over the jumper bay, or that he was walking right into the middle of it.

"Scratch that search party, he's finally here."

Strolling casually up to the ramp of the back hatch, engrossed in whatever the display on the screen was showing him, he didn't seem to be in any hurry, but eventually had to look to see where he was going when he found the way into the jumper was blocked by an angry scowl on the face of the man stood before him.

"Good morning, Colonel. All ready I see?" He'd even smiled with his greeting, trying to bypass him, still not aware of the other man's bad mood.

Inside the jumper, the conversation had died as the two occupants turned in their seats on hearing their missing team mate had decided to join them after all. Both remained quiet not wanting to get caught in the cross fire if things between the two men outside came to a head.

John really didn't want to start the day with a fight so being as cordial as he could, asked, "Rodney where've you been?"

"Humm? Oh, I had to stop by my lab to grab a few last minute things and then I went to the mess, you know I woke up this morning with an overpowering craving for those little eh..." He tilted his head up slightly casting his eyes towards the ceiling, searching for the the word that eluded him, "...damn, I can never remember what those things are called, but you'll know the ones I -"

Having heard enough of Rodney's inane ramblings, John snapped, "Ahh, do you know how long we've been waiting for you? I told you yesterday we were due to leave more than forty five minutes ago. I'm not just making conversation, I tell you these things so you'll be here on time."

"I've had things to do." He protested in a slightly whiny voice, "I might need the things I had to get in my lab."

"Then why didn't you get them last night when you had plenty of time to fuss with them?"

"You know, I don't see why we have to leave at such ridiculously early hour anyway."

"Rodney, its 0945."

"Well do you really expect me to gate off to some unexplored planet, not knowing when we'll get our next meal, without having a decent breakfast to start the day?" His arguments were getting weaker and he knew it. It wasn't like he intended to be late, he was a very busy man with things that needed his attention every minute of the day.

"Everyone else on this team finds the time, you can do the same. Now unless you've got a turkey sandwich in one of those bags, in which case I'll ask you to hand it over, get a move on and get in the damn jumper."

Defeated and feeling slightly deflated, Rodney sulked his way to his usual chair behind the pilot's seat, stashing his edible goodies away before anyone got any ideas about sharing and went back to working on the screen of the data pad. Realizing he hadn't even looked at Teyla or Ronon, he spared them a fleeting glance, muttering a, "Morning," their way.

Sitting across from him Ronon stared back, "Well it's about time."

Before he had managed to fix a snarky look on his face, John walked between them to take his place at the controls now the hatch was closed, eyes warning as he looked at the scientist, "Can it Rodney."

Assessing what was best for his health, he decided to comply.

The slight touch of his finger bringing the radio to life again, John spoke, "Control, this is Jumper One. We're all set to go. Dialling the gate now." Giving Teyla a nod of the head, she made ready to put his words into action.

In the control room Elizabeth hid her small smile from the personnel dotted around their work stations and made her way back to her office. Rodney's antics were getting worse, she made a mental note to have a word with him before he drove John up the wall. Any further up the wall she corrected herself. Before she could get over the threshold, into her office she heard the lilt of a Czech accent call to her across the room. Doctor Zelenka followed, rounding the corner, nearly crashing into her.

"Dr Weir, I'm sorry, I did not see you there." He moved anxiously from one foot to the other.

Elizabeth put up her hands to steady the man. "That's all right Dr. Zelenka. Was there something you needed?"

"Actually I was looking for Rodney. He's not on the radio, and he wasn't in his lab, I thought I might find him here." He gave a small shrug then used a finger to slide the bridge of his glasses back up his nose.

"He's just about to leave on a mission with the rest of his team."

" Of course, of course. I remember now, he mentioned something last night about a planet with missing people? Very strange." He shook his head as the memory came back to him.

"I trust isn't a matter of great urgency?" She had to ask. Sometimes she couldn't tell when the scientist was panicking or just excited.

"On no," He assured her smiling, "just a project we've been working on. I think I may have made some progress. I had hoped to go over the results with him before he had to leave."

"Well he should have a few minutes to spare before the jumper leaves, I'm sure Colonel Sheppard will patch you through." She gave him a quick smile, ending the conversation and headed again for her office.

"Thank you Dr. Weir." Zelenka called to her retreating back. He moved to an unoccupied console at the back of the control gallery that over looked the gate room and taking a seat, proceeded to use the comm to hail Jumper One.

Colonel Sheppard's voice drifted back to him over the radio. "This is Jumper One what can we do for you Radek?"

"Colonel Sheppard, would it be possible to speak with Rodney. It will only take a minute."

"Sure thing. Rodney, it's for you."

Radek could hear aggravated movement inside the jumper as Rodney struggled to get up from his seat to make his way to the receiver at the front of the little ship, he'd had his pack balanced on his knees, his data pad resting on top of that and a half a sandwich in his hand. Then what he thought sounded like, "Everybody wants a piece of me." muttered under someone's breath, float over the radio.

In response to Rodney's struggles John arched his head back from his position in the pilot's chair to look at him and drawled, "Why don't you just put your headset on Rodney?"

Rodney froze half way up from his seat. "Right, headset, yeah." After another minute of rustling he settled into his chair again, headset firmly in place over his ear. "This is Dr. McKay."

The one and only Radek thought to himself, thank God. "Rodney, it's Radek. I thought you would like to know, I've made some progress on our research. The results of the simulations indicate the modifications will be successful. That is of course if we can isolate the correct command pathways and disable the current settings. I can forward my findings to your data pad if you like?" He was already bringing up the relevant data on the laptop in front of him.

"Yes, yes, I've got it here." There was a pause as the information was sent and then, "Very good Radek. We should be able to start running some live tests as soon as I get back."

Down in the room below, a surge of power droned through the ancient circuits and began to light up the cheverons on the stargate. The explosive vortex spat out and sucked back in, leaving the smell of ozone in the air.

Surprised at the compliment, Radek asked, "How long do you think you will be gone? I could begin experimenting now..."

"No, wait until I get back. After all you may need my personal experience and expertise, during the course." Rodney allowed himself a moment smug satisfaction that he was the only person it had previously worked for. Then continued, "As for how long we'll be, I suppose it all depends on if the natives have come back or not."

The jumper was being lowered in front of the open gate, the final preparation before launch. A thought occurred to him then. "Radek, are you in the control room?"

"Yes."

"Good, I left the link to the MALP's camera activated yesterday. Access the program and take a look for me. See if there's anyone in the immediate area."

His fingers moved nimbly over the keyboard, doing as Rodney had directed, seconds later a window appeared on the screen, the image blurred and splattered before coming into focus, displaying the vista of an alien world. A large town lay sprawled out in a luscious green valley, clear blue skies above, the perfect summer's day. From this view he could see that while one section of the city was planned and built with care, most likely the more affluent sector, the rest was disorganised and looked as though it had been thrown together without any thought. He couldn't glean much more detail, but doubted that this was the type of advanced, friendly, civilisation they had all hoped to stumble across.

"At least you have good weather." He informed the team in the jumper. Panning the camera around now he caught his first glimpse of the inhabitants of this planet. Two men ran past, heading for where Radek assumed the gate was. Following them as the camera turned more people came into view, also headed for the gate. Moving back to the radio mike he said, "Well Rodney, you'll be able to find out where they all were yesterday, there appears to be several locals in the area."

"Do they look friendly Doc?" This time it was Sheppard that spoke.

"They don't look particularly threatening Colonel, maybe a little shocked. It is possible they aren't used to seeing the stargate being activated." Radek advised

"I guess I shouldn't show off my fancy new manoeuvring techniques just yet then? A demonstration in the skills of my aerodynamic mastery too much for first contact? Better easy them into it, start off slow, we can do that tomorrow when we're all friends."

"That would probably be wise Colonel." Radek thought the Colonel was spending a bit too much time with Rodney, that last remark was a bit more conceited than what he was used to hearing from him. "Good luck. Rodney, I'll see you when you return."

Rodney didn't get the chance to reply as the jumper shot through the event horizon to the other world.

Glancing back at the image still being sent through the MALP, Radek noticed that the camera had continued to spin and was now directed at a large group of people crowded around something that was blocked from sight. Just then he saw Jumper One shoot up and out from amid the group of people as though it had erupted up from the earth, then banking hard to the left to avoid hitting a beam connected to the crane that was sat to the side, towering over the people. The surprise at seeing the ship flying out of the gate sent the people scattering, exposing what was definitely the alien gate lying horizontally on the ground. Hitting the controls Radek zoomed in to get a clearer picture. As the horde dispersed to a safer distance, something else now caught his attention, but surely not, it couldn't be want he thought it was. Quickly adjusting his glasses he peered closer to the screen, then the space cleared around where he looking and there was no mistaking it. Like a scene from The Wizard of Oz, sticking out from where the stargate lay, were a pair of booted feet. Radek swallowed hard, something told him whoever the feet belonged to, wasn't in need of vanquishing. Before he could do anything else the shimmering puddle sparked out, terminating the visual link and surely the life of the man under the gate with it.

For a second, all Radek could do was blink at the blank screen. He looked to check that all the telemetry had been recorded. The flashing red button told him it had. Thank goodness, he didn't think he'd been able to reiterate what had happened so well. Now he had to raise the alarm. Without even bothering to stand, he bellowed in a manner quite unbecoming of him in the direction of Wier's office, "Dr. Weir, Colonel Sheppard is in big trouble!"


	3. Chapter 3

I forgot to say it on my last update so I'll do it now; Thank you to everyone who took the time to write a quick review! I've said before that I wouldn't beg for reviews, but it is great when you get one! Warm feeling inside for me, brand new chapter for you. This could work...

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Chapter Three 

Elizabeth was sat behind her desk in her comfy office chair. The rippling colours cast by the gate were reflecting off the floor to ceiling glass window. She took a second to look down at the jumper, whispering, "Be safe." just as it shot through the stargate. The wormhole disengaged, the lack of it's presence making the gate room appear dark and gloomy for a moment as her eyes adjusted. Now she would have to wait and pray, the same as she always did when a team went out, that their return would be swift and without complication. She had hoped that by now she would have learned to control the worry and fear, and sometimes the guilt, but she'd decided that it wouldn't be right if she didn't feel these things when the men and women she was responsible for where out in the unknown. Taking a deep cleansing breath, she gave her full attention to the laptop in front of her, as was her way, she would bury herself in work until the team in question came home.

Before she could even turn the computer on, a great shout came from the control room. It was Dr. Zelenka. "Dr. Weir, Colonel Sheppard is in big trouble!"

What? He hadn't even been gone two minutes, what could he have possibly done already? Something in the doctor's voice told her he really meant _big trouble_ so she didn't hesitate, getting up and rushing through to Zelenka's work station.The smaller man looked as though he had been slapped across the face, the way he sat there, eyes wide and mouth slightly open.

"What's happened Doctor?" If John and his team were indeed in trouble, she didn't have time to beat around the bush.

"I'll show you, here." He swivelled the monitor round so she could see it, "This is the recordings from the MALP camera as Colonel Sheppard's team went through."

Elizabeth watched in stunned silence, but didn't flinch when she saw the feet jutting out from under the gate, although her insides churned as the man's fate was revealed. Morbidly she wondered if the man knew what was happening to him, if the weight of the stargate bearing down him hurt, if he felt anything the moment his life was extinguished. She had to tell herself he wouldn't, that any receptacle of pain had been dematerialised the second the event horizon touched him. Hopefully he hadn't even seen it coming, but the impossible image of the trapped man screaming out for help unable to do a thing to free himself began to gnaw at the back of her eyeballs.

The recording had come to an end and Dr. Zelenka was quietly looking to her for some direction as to what to do next. She lowered her head so she could see her hands braced around the edge of the table, her arms ridged, supporting her slight weight, seeking an answer to his unasked questions. There was only one thing she could do, so steeling herself she gave the order. "Dial the gate."

This was what he had expected, but he felt obliged to warn her, "But Dr. Weir, what if the crowd has gathered around the gate again? We may risk injuring someone else if they are too close."

"I don't think they've gone back to the gate. Did you not see a few of them off to theside of the screen? They had started off in the direction of the jumper."

Zelenka ran the recording again and sure enough she was right. She certainly had a keen eye, this was his third run through and he only just caught the angry looks on the faces of a group of men and just as she said, they were moving away to where a likely landing spot for the jumper could be.

"Besides," she added, "anyone close enough to be caught in the vortex would either have to be standing within the gate or hanging over it and after what they've just witnessed, they'd have to be pretty stupid to do that."

He didn't need to be told twice, so began the dialling sequence.

* * *

John's vision flashed then cleared as the world was rebuilt around him. The first thing he saw was the crossbar directly in their path, he pulled the controls hard to avoid hitting it. The ship swerved, narrowly missing it. Just as he was about to ask why they thought it was a good idea to put a road block right in front of the stargate, the sight out the view screen confused the question right out of his mind. They were flying parallel with the ground, but the ship was rotated so that it was now turned onto its side, nearly upside down. Huh? How had he managed that? He knew he'd pulled the controls hard to get out the way but how had they ended up this way? He corrected the angle of the ship then decided to gain some altitude so to get a better idea of what was going on. Quickly he threw a look at the rest of his team, Teyla and Ronon had seen what had happened and were now sitting forward in their chairs to get a better look. Rodney however was muttering quietly to himself, brushing the remnants the sandwich he'd dropped, out of his lap and onto the floor, completely unaware of their near miss. 

It was Teyla that brought his attention back to the world outside, "Colonel, I think our arrival has upset these people."

"No kidding." John could see them running wildly in all directions. He circled the Jumper over the area and now the gate lying flat on the ground was visible from their position. The images they'd seen yesterday from the MALP of what looked like a construction site came back to him, sliding together with what they could see now and left him with a terrible sinking feeling in his gut. "I think we did a little more than scare them. Look at the gate. That bar we nearly hit was part of the crane."

"Do you think they were in the process of moving the stargate when we came through?"

He looked over to Teyla, worry etched on his face, but didn't answer her question. "I'm going to put us down. Assess the situation. If we've broken something, we should see if we can lend a hand." The small nod he got from each of them said they agreed, even Rodney was now aware of what was going on, his eager nods adding to the consensus.

They had touched down just behind where the gate should be standing, clear from where any of the people where gathering. Cloaking the jumper as they got out and started to make their way back towards the gate. As they walked several of the locals began to flank them on each side, providing a silent escort.

Ronon's instincts to either reposition themselves so they wouldn't be surrounded or even better, remove the threat altogether, made his fingers twitch in the direction of where his blaster was holstered. "Sheppard." He growled.

"I know Ronon, but they're unarmed, well except for a couple of shovels and a pick ax here and there. We're not going to start shooting everyone. Let's just see what the damage is first and we'll take it from there."

As they continued, John watched Teyla try to engage one of the men in conversation, but his angry scowl looked right through her. They'd definitely done more than damage some of their equipment. All John could hope for was that no one was seriously injured.

John and the others came to a mutual halt with their angry hosts on one side of the grounded stargate, while what looked like the rest of the workmen headed by who John thought was their foreman, on the other side.

He figured he might as well be the one to go first, as the locals remained outraged but for the most part silent. "Hi there, I'm Colonel John Sheppard, this is my team, Ronon, Teyla and McKay." He indicated to each of them respectively. The locals still said nothing so he continued, "Look, I'm sorry if we scared you when we came through, but we'll be happy to help repair your equipment." He gestured to the severed ropes that were a part of the pulley system he could see now they were closer. Scanning the area he didn't see anyone who appeared to be hurt. "We really are sorry 'bout all this. If anyone was hurt we can provide medical..."

The foreman finally found his tongue, interrupting John, "Oh no, nobody was hurt"

This should have come as a relief to John, but the way the man had put emphasis on the last word, made him feel worse.

"Because of you... you have...you..." His words consumed by his anger, he turned away from the strangers in front of him momentarily as he composed himself. Turning back with renewed calm, he looked John straight in the eye and spoke in a voice so low it was more like a clap of thunder than anything else. "Because of you, three of our people, one of which was my sister's husband, were killed when the Ring fell."

McKay's mouth hung open and his eyes flared to the size of saucers at the man's words. This was just supposed to be a easy recon mission, no bad guys, no trouble, no death. Especially no killing of the people they just met. And then it hit him. This was his fault, the men who had died would still be alive if he had been on time this morning. They had died for the sake of a sandwich and a cup of coffee. John was right, he should have packed the things he needed last night, and if he hadn't stopped by the commissary that second time, they would have arrived here before the gate had been lifted. He couldn't bare to meet the eyes of the men before them and see the loss that lingered there, so he stood unmoving, focusing instead on his boots. John was the next was to speak, his voice intoned with genuine sorrow and regret.

"We are really sorry about what happened here. The loss of your friend's lives... We never meant to hurt anyone. We only came here to meet you guys, to offer our friendship and maybe the chance to make trade with you. It was never our intension to kill anyone."

The foreman looked at John a long moment, assessing if his words were true. Just when John thought he was about say something the lights of the gate flashed on accompanied by the groan of power.

John only had a second to yell before the gate engaged, "Everyone get back."

A couple of the locals fell to the ground in surprise as the vortex shot up, reminding John of one of those show fountains that make the water dance to classical music. Once it had settled into a complacent puddle within the ring, the radio on John's shoulder crackled to life.

"Colonel Sheppard, this is Weir, do you read?"

"Where does the voice come from?" The foreman was shouting over the murmurings of the men around them.

John and the others could see the workers inching forward, they were well and truly surrounded now and as they backed away, the amount of space between them and the active stargate was reducing, fast. Even if they wanted to there was no place to run and too many to fight off.

John faced the foreman and slowly took the radio from his vest, clicking the button so anything that was said could be heard back at Atlantis. "This device is called a radio, it allows us to communicate with each other across a distance."

"Between worlds?" The foreman's curiosity had momentarily quelled his anger, but not for long. Before John had the chance to reply he spoke again. "In that case, take this chance to inform your people that you will be taken before the Council and put on trial for the murder of our men. Also, if you are so foolish as to send anyone else through the Ring at this time we will consider it an act of aggression and not hesitate to take our retribution now, in the form of your lives."

"You hear that Elizabeth?"

"Yes."

"Well it looks as though we're be here a little longer than planned. Do as he says for now, we can't solve this here without any more blood shed. It's possible the people in charge will let us resolve this once we go down to the town, and I'd like to do this if we can without adding to the death toll." He looked around at the angry faces, "Especially when we're at the top of the list."

"John, I'm all for not getting anyone else killed, but I'd like very much for you all to get back here before all hell breaks loose."

"Me too, but we won't last long if we start shooting now, they'd be all over us in seconds. As much as I hate the idea, at least this way we have a chance to leave in one piece."

"You're sure?"

Silently asking his team's opinion, looking to each of them, he made his decision. "I'm sure." Ronon's eyes rolled to the back of his head at this, obviously wanting to take the chance at fighting his way out, but the others had indicated otherwise, he was right to wait this out. He spoke into the radio again, "Do what you can from your end, but don't send anyone else in until its safe to do so."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

They had to surrender all their weapons to the foreman and his men before they moved out. Stripped of their vests and anything else the foreman thought could be used to make a quick escape, they were shoved and manhandled in the direction of the top of the trail leading down to the town. Little effort was made to search them for anything that might have been concealed on their person and none of them chose to mention that Ronon was a walking one man arsenal, with weapons hidden in places that would make you scared to think about. The journey to the town was swift but the men were strangely quiet, any attempt at communicating with these people was met with murderous glares and if they did speak it was under hushed breaths to the person next to them. There was no jeering, no shouted accusations, just angry stares that spoke in volumes, that unsettled John and he thought he would have preferred the typical angry mob to this. He was glad then that they didn't have torches and pitch forks.

On arriving in the town, they could clearly see the images on the MALP were very misleading. There was no rich sector, not any more, the only divide was whether or not the building was fit for living in.Maybe once this civilisation could have been proud of the place they called home, but on closer inspection most of the buildings looked as though a good breath of wind would bring them tumbling down. All that was left now was a shell of what used to be. The result of centuries of Wraith cullings leaving not enough people to ensure the maintenance of the majority of structures. Scaffolding and wooden supports were being used around the base of many buildings, making the streets cramped and in some places impassable.

As they went, they passed more of the town's folk, at stalls lined along the streets buying and selling their wares. There was no short supply of variety, whether it was food or clothes, or household goods, there was plenty to choose from. It was certainly alive with humanity, unlike the workmen that first greeted them. John was puzzled by this; the apparent dereliction of their buildings would suggest a poorer way of life but everything he could see about him, pointed to a thriving trading outpost. For the most part the people looked well fed and their attire was more than the mere rags one would expect to see in a place like this. It revived the unpleasant memory of when he and his team had first encountered the Genii, a false face to hide the truth that lies just under the surface.

They didn't have to go too far into the town before they arrived at their destination; one of the larger, well kept buildings that stood three stories high with a small plaza at the front which seemed to be the focal point for the local businesses. They were herded up the few stone stairs to the entrance and most of the workmen who had accompanied them stopped at the large, heavy, main doors, their presence apparently no longer needed from here on. The silent lobby inside was a cool contrast to the brilliant sunshine outside. Three double doors lined each side of the hall and each of those had two guards, armed with batons, held around their waists by a strap on their belts.

At the sight of the angry foreman striding right for them, without instruction, the two guards at the first door on the left reached for a handle and pulled open the doors. John's team were marched in and found themselves standing before a balding man of middle years, who had been sat behind his desk but was now coming to his feet at the uninvited intrusion to his office.

"Athen, what is the meaning of this? You enter these offices unannounced! And who are these people?" His outrage directed at the foreman.

"Councillor Goran, you'll forgive me, but this was not a matter that could wait." The previously silent foreman had found his tongue again.

"Why are you not supervising the relocation of the Ring?"

"That is in part why I am here. When the men had hoisted the Ring, these came through. Their actions caused the Ring to fall from it's restraints and resulted in the death of three of the men." He paused then he added in a quieter voice, "Athos was among them."

The man was quiet for a minute, a brief sadness passing over his face before he could control his features into the mask a leader must wear. His eyes steeled as he looked over John and his team and then at Athen. "I'm sorry Athen. Has your sister been informed yet?"

"I will tell her myself, but first I had to make sure the ones responsible were in custody."

The councillor looked a little confused at this and questioned, "Custody?"

Athen took a step closer to the smaller man. "Yes, custody. Did you think my family would just let Athos' murderers go free? They must answer for their crimes!"

The councillor was shaking his head and began to stammer as words failed him.

Athen took another step and now he was as close to Goran as the desk between them allowed. "Councillor Goran," The way Athen spoke made John doubt that there was any respect in his words, even if this man seemed to be in a position of power. "Once my father and sister are told of what happened, they will expect nothing less than your full support and a judgement to be made, about how these people will be punished."

The mention of Athen's father seemed to bring the man up short and John could tell that his obedience would not be in question again. This man was afraid of Athen's father. From what he'd seen so far, it seemed that 'councillor' was not much more than a title and the real power lay with Athen's family, this man just provided a face to it. This wasn't going to be as simple to get out of as John first thought, but there was no way to change his mind now. They'd just had to play along and wait for the best opportunity to get the hell out of here.

They had all remained quiet until now, but on hearing they were expected to be punished for what happened, Ronon had heard enough, "Hey, what happened back there was an accident. It was no one's fault."

Athen was not best pleased that his charges weren't that keen to submit to his will and turned angrily on them, "You will have no say in the matter. This is our world and you will be punished in accordance to our laws."

"Just out of curiosity... um... What exactly is your policy when it comes to causing accidental death?" Rodney had shaken the haze from his head that had kept him quiet thus far. John suspected that Rodney had been beating himself up over the death of the men and in turn he too felt guilty for giving him such a hard time when he was late reporting for their mission. But what was done was done, they'd all have to live with what happened. That is if Elizabeth could arrange for another team to come through and talk these guys into letting them go.

Athen looked at Rodney with disgust. "The penalty for murder is death. There will be an inquiry, though there is not much to discover considering my entire work force was witness, and when it is over you will be hung in the plaza outside where all our people will be able to see that justice has been served."

Ronon surged forward, Athen's last words more than enough to send his temper boiling over, but before he could lunge at the man, the two guards from out in the hall came barrelling in, their momentum sent all three of them sprawling onto the plush carpeted floor. They were quickly proceeded by several more guards and it took five of them to finally subdue Ronon and another three assigned themselves to watch each of the others.

With a bit of an effort, the guards got Ronon to his feet as he continued to struggle to free himself, but their grasp on him was firm and he wasn't going anywhere. Athen had not moved while this happened and now that things were under control again, he took a couple of steps closer to Ronon. He matched the Runner in height so he could look him directly in the eyes as he commanded the guards. "Take them down to the holding cells."

"Hey, hey, wait a second." It was John that spoke now, before they carted them away he had to try something. " Where we come from, we don't make a habit of leaving our people on a strange planet to get hung by the locals. Our leader will contact you, Athen that devise that you saw us talk into before, get it and use it. Just listen to what she has to say. We could have something of value for you."

Athen looked like he was considering it for a second, but then with a small gesture of the hand, the guards were instructed to move them out of the office.

Councillor Goran had been listening very carefully to the stranger's words and while he remained wary, the prospect of gaining something that could be used in trade was very appealing to him, so once the prisoners had been taken away, he asked Athen, " What is this devise he spoke of?"

Athen perched himself on the edge of the councillor's desk and sighed. He still had to break the news to his sister that her husband would not be returning home to her tonight, nor any other night. "Before we left the Ring site, it was activated again. They used something to communicate with the people of their own world."

Goran was intrigued by this and his eyes began to light up at the thought of possessing such technology. "Did they have other items like this with them?"

"That was the only thing we witnessed them use but many things were confiscated when we took them. I believe several of them were weapons."

"Weapons!"

"Yes. I will arrange for them to be brought here so you may examine them. Now, I must go." Athen got up and made to leave, but didn't get far.

"Just one more thing Athen. You said these people came through the Ring while it was suspended on its side? Then how is it that they did not fall back through the Ring and perish also?"

"Did I not tell you Goran?"

Goran shook his head no.

"They came through in a ship. It was liken to nothing I have ever seen before."

* * *

John, Rodney, Teyla and Ronon had been led down several levels of the same building, through twisting corridors and now a heavy bolted door, which could only mean one thing. They had arrived at their designated quarters and there was no shortage of bars and locks to keep them stuck there. The long corridor they were on now was all reinforced concrete, white washed some time in the past, but years of dirt and grime had tainted the colour, and the cells were the same. Being so far under ground, the bars that formed the cells' forth wall were the only things to let in the light from the lanterns hung on the walls, but at least there was somewhere to sit - a narrow cot, barely enough to fit a grown man and with a mattress as thin as cardboard was pushed up against the far wall. Apparently blankets were more than prisoners could expect. 

They were split up and each given their own cell, John's being the closest to the only way in or out of this place. Their separation was made greater still as the guards had decided to put a couple of empty cells between each of them, so that if they wanted to speak with each other, they wouldn't be able to do it discretely. There would be no secret whispers designing a discrete exit.

"Is everyone all right?" John called from between the bars, once the guard had left.

"If you call being manhandled, imprisoned and put on death row all right, then yes Colonel, I'm perfectly fine!"

"Glad to hear it Rodney. Ronon? Teyla?"

"I'm fine." Ronon rumbled.

"I'm well enough Colonel. However, our situation does not suggest we will be that way for long."

"I know that, but we've been held in worse places before. We'll just have to suck it up for the time being."

"What do you think will happen?" Teyla asked.

"I'm not sure. But Elizabeth will try to contact us and if they've got any sense, Goran and Athen will speak with her. Did you see the way that guy's eyes lit up when I mentioned the radio? Maybe we'll be able to trade our way out."

"Do you think Elizabeth would really trade technology for our lives?" Rodney bellowed.

"No. But she might let them think that long enough for us to get out of here." John said this as quietly as possible for fear that a guard had been posted just outside the cell block door and was listening in.

Each of them in their own cell had nothing to do now but settle in for the long haul. Ronon began examining the bars, the joins and frame of the door, looking for the slightest weakness that could be exploited. Rodney, full of nervous energy resolved to pacing the length of the little room as he began to process all the bits of information they'd obtained. He was sure he could figure something out if he could find something to give them an edge. Teyla and John had both decided that pacing or staring at the bars, willing them to melt away, would be of little help and so they had made themselves comfy of their cots.

As the silence closed in around him, John couldn't help but question his decision not to try and get off the planet while they were at least close to the stargate. He shook the thoughts from his head. He knew better than to second guess himself. There really was no good way to do it once they had landed the jumper. They were severely out numbered even if they did have weapons, they would have been swamped very quickly. At least this way they were uninjured, alive and had something to barter with in exchange for their freedom. He just hoped Elizabeth could get through to them.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"Is everybody ready?" Elizabeth had been stood at the foot of the stairs in the gate room for the last ten minutes waiting for Major Lorne's team to gear up and was eager to be away. All she had needed to take was the jacket that hung over the back of her chair, so the time Lorne was taking seemed like an eternity.

"Yes Ma'am," replied Lorne as he came down the stairs to meet her.

"Very well. Dr. Zelenka, please dial the gate." She called up to the control gallery.

The doctor nodded and began the dialling sequence. He had been watching Dr. Weir as she had waited for the rest of the team to get ready and had seen her pace back and forth, the need to get out there and do something to bring their colleges back safe was a driving force within her. It occurred to him, in all the time he'd been at Atlantis, he had never seen her behave like this. In the past, even in their darkest hours, she had always managed to find a constructive outlet for her worries, putting her energy into work, but now it was like she needed to _physically_ do something.

Standing back from the gate as the coordinates locked and the address was established, Elizabeth forced her feet to remain still. Pacing like this made her look unprofessional.

At the back of the control gallery Radek was looking at the visual relay sent back from the MALP once again, checking the area for trouble. He'd already panned the camera around 360 degrees and was half way through the second lap just to make sure, but he was right the first time. The stargate definitely wasn't where it had been the last time. Considering that it had been lying flat on the ground, this wasn't entirely a bad thing, it was just the fact that it wasn't anywhere in the surrounding area either that had him concerned. Using the remote he rolled the MALP towards the top of the incline to get a view of the town below. He'd had to zoom in but he had found it, set up and supported by some make shift scaffolding, the gate was now in a field on the outskirts of the town.

He got up and went over to the railing so he could call down, "Dr. Weir, the gate has been moved. When you go through you'll be just outside the town. Also, there were four men waiting near by, most likely your guides"

Elizabeth thought they were most probably guards but didn't say anything. Major Lorne would be prepared for this. "We'll take that under advisement. Thank you Radek."

Taking a second to look at the men who would be accompanying her, she gave them a small smile of thanks for what was to come. They had travelled off world with her before and she knew she was in very capable hands if there was any trouble.

Major Lorne sided over to Weir as she stood and spoke softly to her, "Don't worry Dr. Weir, Sheppard's team have been in many, much more dangerous situations than this."

"Many huh? Major, you instill me with confidence."

"I uh... I didn't mean to imply that Colonel Sheppard is irresponsible in the field." How is it that she always manages to take my best intentions the wrong way? Thought Lorne.

"I know Major," she gave him the briefest of smiles to let him know she was just teasing, "It's just that Colonel Sheppard is unfortunate enough to find these dangerous situations with alarming frequency."

Lorne thought it was wise to stick with a safe "Yes ma'am."

"Well we should probably go get him out of this new problem. What do you say Major?"

"Sounds like a plan." And with that Lorne led his men out through the stargate.

When they had arrived, they were met with the same petulance Elizabeth had heard in the voices speaking to her over John's radio. They were unwelcome guests and she didn't feel inclined to stay here a moment longer than necessary. Four men had met them when they came through, managing only to relate to them that they were guards to Councilman Goran and they would be escorting them to the Government Chambers where the council were waiting.

That's where they were now. They had been in conference for near three hours with Goran, two other Councillors named Maten and Phelo and the foreman Athen. Several guards were also in attendance and as before were armed with the batons they kept on their belts, but their nervous eyes were all over the automatic weapons Lorne and his men held fast to their chests. From this Weir surmised that someone had been over keen to see what exactly the newcomers had brought with them and had found out the hard way what they were capable of.

At present however, they had been given a brief respite from the endless circle of accusations and explanations they were engaged in. These people would not back down from their moral high ground. Yes it was true that through the actions of herself, John and his team, it could be said that they were indirectly responsible for the death of the men at the gate, but a public hanging was not going to bring these men back. She had patiently tried to get the councillors to see that it was a terrible accident and the result deeply regrettable, but extending her sympathies and understanding to their feelings was taken so far out of context they were thought she was incriminating herself.

One of the things they had learned from their hosts, was that their society was well known on countless planets as traders. Generations of hard work and the way they were always fair with their prices, had earned them the respect of many worlds. But theywouldn't be taken for fools. If a customer would not agree to a reasonable transaction, they would rather walk away and find someone else willing to meet their standards, than be under cut. At first, their policies were thought of as reckless, but soon theother peoples came to understand the way they conducted business. The things they sold were high in quality and deserved a better price. Besides that, they were well connected. Their needs were few, they lived off their own land, harvested their crops and reared their own livestock, but they knew where things were to be found if they couldn't provide it for themselves. These people were the Yellow Pages to the Pegasus galaxy. That could be a very valuable thing when you were new to these parts.

While the councillors had been assembled Lorne and his team remained for the most part in the role of the 'silent but deadly protectors' letting Weir do her job without unneeded interruption, but now that they had the room to themselves they were free to voice their opinions.

"Wow, these guys are a tough crowd. At this rate we're gonna be here months before they'll even consider our point of view. How long can you keep at them like this?" Lorne asked as he took a seat, dug out the canteen from his pack and offered it to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth gratefully accepted it and took a long swig of the water then handed it back. "Thank you. You wouldn't have a power bar in there too would you? I'm starving."

At her request, Lorne rummaged about again, procuring the snack and passed it over, but didn't miss the raised eyebrows of his men standing behind the doctor and the quick glance that shot between them. He knew what they were thinking; that it was more like something McKay would say just a couple of hours into a mission. He wouldn't comment though, the woman was small enough as it was and so he let it pass.

Once Elizabeth had taken a couple of bites she answered his question. "Not much longer. They don't want to hear our explanations or apologies. This was just a staging ground of sorts for them, they want something from us or we wouldn't still be here."

"And after the way they'd been ogling our ordnances, I reckon we could pretty much bet they've got their hearts set on acquiring some new weaponry." Sergent Mathews piped up from beside the doors.

"You noticed that too?"

"Yes ma'am. When they confiscated the Colonel's things, I'm thinking they've had a go and if the way those guards were twitching is anything to go by, I'd say somebody went and got themselves shot."

"I agree," said Lorne, "the question is, are we willing to hand over our technology to these people?"

All eyes were on her as Elizabeth gave her answer. "I was going to suggest our assistance in their relocation project first, but as they've beaten us to it we'll try to offer our usual education and medicine packages. I will not however hand over any more weapons to these people. That mistake had been made before and its not one I'll be repeating. They don't have to know this though."

There were nods of agreement from the others in the room. This was the right choice.

* * *

Across the hall in the office opposite from Goran's, Phelo took a seat at his desk, his old bones creaking and protesting at being kept in the same position for so long. As he flexed his knee, a young man in service to the council who had prepared refreshments for he and his fellows, set down a platter of varied fruits from the market place and four goblets filled to the rim with a local brew. Letting out a sigh he dismissed the young man with a wave of his hand and picked out a piece of fruit.

Goran had remained on his feet and was walking about the room as he spoke. "It went well, do you not think?"

"Well enough, but there is much to do yet." replied Athen.

Phelo had been watching Maten, a man in his mid-twenties, throughout the talks. He had said little but he could read people exceptionally well, he could head trade agreements off world with the confidence and capabilities of a man with many more years experience, always coming out with the best deal for his people. So when an earlier Wraith attack had taken the life of his predecessor, that was what had afforded him a place on the council at such a young age. In a few years, once Goran and himself had become to old, Maten had the potential to lead their people in a new direction, away from the influence of Athen's family. Something he had been trying to achieve during his administration, but knew that the greed of those who were in charge, was not something that was breed out of a man so quickly.

"What are your thoughts on this Maten?"

"They are suspicious of us," said the young man. "The woman knows we mean to ask for a supply of their weapons in return for the lives of this man Sheppard and his team."

Clever boy, thought Phelo he had seen this too. "And do you think they will comply with our demands?"

Maten thought for a second before replying. "I believe, they will do this only as a last resort. They hold a high price on these weapons and rightly so, I have seen what happened to the man who fell victim to its power. However, higher still is the value they place on the lives of their companions."

"Then we must show them that we will not give up their friends for anything less," growled Athen.

For a second, Phelo and Maten shared a discrete glance. Both knew that their people had no need for such violent weaponry. Neither could remember the last time the batons the guards carried were used. Peace was something the majority could argee on, with the exception of Athen, his family and the few they had managed to corrupt, but their numbers were dwindling. They were too busy tending to their crops, their stalls and looking after their families to be interested in fighting. The Wraith brought with them enough fear and loss for any man. This was just another outlandish way for Athen's father to regain some of the control he had lost over the years.

"Might I make a suggestion?" Maten directed his question at Athen.

Athen grunted.

"Would it not be in the best interest of all our people, if we were to hand over the prisoners in exchange for an alternative price?"

"And what is it that you would ask for?"

"Forcing these people to surrender superior weaponry could prove to be very dangerous. I do not doubt that what we've seen is not the most powerful thing they possess. They have been patient up to this point, due to the fact that they are willing to take some responsibility for the death of the three men."

"The count is up to four now, including the man killed inspecting the weapons." Goran interrupted.

"My point is," continued Maten, ignoring Goran's stupid comment, that man would still be alive if Athen hadn't insisted on placing them in custody, "if we press this too much we may find ourselves making an enemy of these people, who hold a significant advantage over us. I believe it would be best if we accepted a lesser offer, perhaps something to improve our quality of life, like medicines. We could work out a lasting trade with them - there are many gains to be had here."

Maten's proposal had angered Athen and he jumped to his feet. "These terms are unacceptable! Athos is dead, my sister is without a husband and her unborn child without a father!"

Athen's outburst had not fazed Maten in the slightest, he replied calmly, "Your sister is not the only one to grieve for a loved one, those other men had people who cared for them as well."

"You would be wise to think of who it is that you speak to," retorted Athen.

"I am quite aware."

Athen's rage was uncontrollable, he charged forward grabbing the front of Maten's shirt, his voice came out a menacing whisper, "You will go back in there and tell those people my demands. I will settle for nothing less. If they are as unreasonable as you think, tell them the ones who came before them will die."

He released Maten from his grasp and turned to storm out the office, "You can find me when this is done. I will be at my father's house."

Once he had left, Phelo got to his feet and hobbled over to Maten who hadn't even flinched when Athen had grabbed him. "Maten you should not challenge Athen so openly. You speak of the danger for our people if we do not give up the prisoners, but you do not realise the danger to yourself if Athen thinks you are testing him like that."

"Someone must tell him Phelo."

Phelo patted him on the back, unwilling to say any more while Goran was with them. "I have no need to ask where your thoughts lie with this Goran."

Goran had jumped out the way when he saw how angry Athen had become and had tried to fade into the background, almost making himself one with the furniture. "I stand by my decision. Athen is quite right to want something of great value. He has lost a part of his family."

"I do not hear the widows Jedis and Freson making demands such as this," said Maten. "When I spoke with them, they only asked for assistance with the keep of their children. Athen's sister has no need to worry about that, their family is the wealthiest of all. It is for the same reason we are made to pursue this foolish cause!"

"Maten, that will be enough! You will speak no more of this." Phelo had to step in now and head off this in fighting, even though his beliefs lay with Maten. If they were make it through this, they did not need to cause doubts about where their loyalties were.

Goran stepped up, now that he had remembered he was the lead councillor. His decision was final and more, he had the backing of the Brontae family. "Yes Maten, that _is _enough. If you feel that you can not abide by the decisions of your superiors, you presence in this matter, will be removed."

Phelo gave Maten a slight nod.

"I will do as you say, of course." Maten submitted.

"Good. Now, we should return to our guests, lest they think we have forgotten them." Goran eyed Maten, a subtle warning to the young man, then led the way back to his office where the visitors waited.

* * *

**Author's notes:**Okay people, how am I doing? Tell me! I know there's a couple of you out there reviewing each chapter, (You know who you are - thanks again!)but come on, give a girl a break! This is my first big story. Are you getting enough from each chapter? Are you interested? What is it that makes you want to come back for another update! I know some people like to wait until the end of the story to write a review, but could you just let me know if you like it? I'm gonna stop whining now...


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

The sound of the key grating against the lock informed them all they were about to get company, four sets of ears were pricked up as they waited.

Booted feet made their way down the hard floor of the corridor and stopped out side John's cell. Whoever it was remained silent, happy to wait until John turned away from the wall and faced the bars of his cell. Upon seeing who his guests were he practically sprung up off his cot and rushed closer to the bars.

"Major Lorne, what are you doing here?" John gave himself a mentalkick for asking such a stupid question. Elizabeth had obviously arranged for them to come and speak with the people in charge.

"Well sir, I didn't think it would do my reputation any good if I didn't even _try_ to get you out of here."

From somewhere down the hall a lone voice called out, "Hey, hey, Major Lorne, is that you? Its about time somebody came, I was starting to think..."

"Just a second Rodney, I'll send him up in a minute." John called back then spoke to the Major, "That's great Lorne, but I never really figured you as the negotiator type, so I hope you've been practising, 'cause it gonna take something special to get these people to overcome their urge to strangle the life out of me." He absently raised his hand to rub his neck, belying how much the thought of being hung troubled him. "Oh, you didn't happen to pack an extra shaving kit did you? This stubble is killing me."

"Sorry sir, you're just going to have to put up with the itch for now, and I'll try not to take offence in your lack of faith in me. But I guess you're in luck seeing I did bring something special with me."

From behind the other men in Lorne's team there was a distinct cough. Lorne muttered, "Sorry, some_one_ special." At that they all moved aside to allow the person who had been hidden behind Lorne and his men.

John's wide eyes flicked between Lorne and the now revelled Elizabeth. Quickly schooling his features into something that could pass for anything that wasn't reflecting what he was really feeling, he forced out, "Elizabeth, you didn't trust anyone else to get us out of this misunderstanding?"

"This misunderstanding that's going to see you hung?"

John visibly winced at the mention of his likely punishment if this situation couldn't been resolved reasonably, but shook it off, he would never let that happen.

Major Lorne, sensing the sudden tension between the two leaders, tried to defuse it by asking, " How've they been treating you and your team sir?"

Thankful for the distraction Lorne's question posed, Sheppard used it to update them on their conditions. "We all got our own room and look, it's en suite too," he indicated to the toilet in the back corner. "Great for privacy, not so great for communicating and making plans for a prison break." His frustration at their separation was clear, he took a deep, steading breath. "As Rodney just demonstrated there, we can hear each other, but it can get loud, and I'm closest to the door so at least I know everybody's still here, but we've not seen each other since we were brought in. We've been fed and watered, but they've kept us in the dark as far as what they're planning, with exception to their desire to hang us. That Athen guy really enjoyed telling us that part." John paused, then indicated down the hall as he said, "Major, I think they'd appreciate it if you'd take a few minutes to go round and see each of them, let them know what's going on."

Lorne gave him a tight nod then motioned his men to move out, leaving the Colonel and Dr. Wier alone.

John watched them leave, running a hand through his hair, searching for the words to calmly let Elizabeth know that while he was extremely grateful for her help, he was less than pleased that she'd put herself in a potentially dangerous position. Failing to find any he settled on leaning one hand on the bars and fixing her with a stare and waited for her to speak first. From further inside the cell block they heard an exasperated cry come from where Mckay was being held, obviously relieved to see some friendly faces.

"Why are you staring at me like that John?"

John finally looked away, down at the hand supporting him on the bar. He straightened after a minute and when he looked back up at her she could see the worry written all over his face. "Elizabeth, you do remember that visit you had with the Doc last month? What are you doing coming off world?"

She had expected this but it still made her angry that he'd brought it up, she folded her arms defensively, taking a step closer to the door, her voice was hushed as she spoke. "John, I thought we agreed it wouldn't be a problem. I told you it wouldn't affect my work and it hasn't, that is why I'm here. Don't forget what my job description involves. You said it yourself, you need a negotiator, a good one and now you've got the best available."

"I appreciate that, I just wasn't expecting your work to involve you travelling to a town full of crazies, that want to kill us over an unfortunate accident and putting yourself at unnecessary risk."

"It's not as though I came running in right behind you. You realize its been three days since you've been gone?"

John nodded that he did.

"I've spent that time having teams trying to gather intel on your position, while I've been conversing with this planets' officials in an attempt to find out what they plan to do with you. The whole of the first day they effectively put me on hold, They only barely told me that you were alive and being detained pending some sort of trial. Unfortunately, one of the men who died was husband to the daughter of a very powerful man. The family used it's influence with the government to have you thrown in here. You should consider yourself lucky really."

John had to scoff at this. "Lucky?"

"No really. The council in charge on this world can be reasonable when it suits them, however if it were strictly up to the dead man's family, you and your team would have been killed already."

"Oh." That was all he could think of to say at hearing this, so he proceeded to pace the short distance across his cell a few times then came to a halt again opposite Elizabeth. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that your expertise was unneeded or unrequired here. The only things I've seen of these people are their prison guards and an angry, yet strangely silent mob. Y'know, that was just a little bit creepy, they marched us all the way down here without a word. Anyway, you can understand how I see them as a threat to anyone who would come here."

"I know." She gave him a small smile letting him know she wouldn't hold a grudge at his misplaced worry.

Reassured, he gave her his own quirky smile and asked, "So, you wouldn't have the keys to this lock so you can spring me out of here or is that too much to hope for?"

"I'm working on it. I promise. You think you can make a couple more days in here?"

"Me, sure. On the other hand I wouldn't be surprised if Ronon chewed through his bars by then."

That managed to get a laugh out of both of them even if it only lasted a moment and was a little forced.

"I believe we'll be able to come to some sort of agreement that will see you released back to Atlantis, however it won't come without some concessions. They've been very interested in our technology, more specifically, our weapons."

"I suppose that was to be expected. You're not considering it are you?"

"No. I've been trying to get them to take medical assistance instead, or help with their relocation project, rebuilding some of their warehouses, but we've been at logger heads since we arrived this morning."

"Why were they moving the gate anyway, did they say? And why did they abandon all their stuff up there? Anyone could have come through and taken it."

"They're traders John, it just wasn't practical to have the gate so far away. They'd been planning it for a while, so all their business associates were told in advance not to contact them. They had the day off and didn't see the need to pack everything up, just to bring it all back the next day. We just got unlucky with this one."

"Unlucky, yeah. So how did you manage to arrange a visit?"

"The younger councilman, Maten, persuaded the other two that once we see that you were being treated well, it would make us more obliged to deal with them. I'm not sure exactly what's going on, but its clear there's some kind of internal power struggle happening. The out come of this situation may affect who gets the upper hand."

"I thought I got the sense of that on our first day. Watch out for the foreman, Athen, he has some sway over this council, especially Goran."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

Elizabeth turned at the sound of Major Lorne's team returning from their visit to the other cells. "How's everyone doing?" She asked.

"Dr McKay was a little distressed at the lack of real contact with anyone, Teyla is probably the most patient of you all, she said she knew there was little else to do but wait for a rescue, but Ronon..." Lorne had to look at the ground to hide the grin on his face. "Ronon is climbing the walls. Sergent Matthews here got a bit too close, Ronon made a grab for him to make sure he got some answers about what was being done to free him. For a second there I thought he was going to have him pulled through to his side of the bars!"

John just looked back to Elizabeth. She was the only one who successfully hid the smile the others were all sharing now. He shrugged his shoulders and said "Told you."

Tactfully she changed the subject, "We should probably be getting back, we've still got quite a way to go. Unless there's anything else you need?"

"No, don't want to delay you any longer. We'll be fine, but thanks for taking the time to come by. I think we needed itmore than I realized." This time when he smiled it made it to his eyes.

"You'll be out of here before you know it. Just stay out of trouble." One of her eyebrows arched at this, as she returned his smile then proceeded to lead the way back out.

A thought came to him as the footsteps started to recede and he called out, "Wait, Elizabeth."

She appeared outside of the cell again, Lorne had carried on down the hall to the door.

"When we landed, I cloaked the Jumper not far from where the stargate was."

"I know. Don't worry it's already been recovered."

"How did you get it back without these guys finding out? They must've been all over that place trying to find it."

"They were and they had already found it for us. When we got there they had covered it in white wash so they didn't loose it again. Fortunately, they couldn't get inside."

"They painted my Puddle Jumper! White?" John hung his head one hand cupping his forehead. "But you got it off them?"

"Yes, that was easy."

John looked at her, "You're going to make me ask how?"

She gave him a wicked grin. "Has being idol also made you forgetful? Zelenka's control..."

He cut her off the second he remembered. "Right, the control." After his near suicide mission when they were under siege, Zelenka had gone to work trying to find a way to fly a puddle jumper by remote, in case they ever had to do something like it again. It had taken the best part of a year just to get it to work using the Chair on the base, but with a little help from Rodney and the rest of the science lab, it had worked. The real trouble had been getting it to work using an actual remote control. The end product had only been finished a few months ago and until now, there hadn't been any cause to use it.

"Apparently the locals got quite a scare. The team sent to retrieve it were in their own cloaked Jumper that came through with us this morning. The way I hear, they made a bit of a show of it. They hovered the Jumper a few inches off the ground then spun it around, stopped it dead then shot it up into the air so fast it was gone in seconds."

"Show offs." Reproached Sheppard, but his smirk told of his approval.

"They landed a few miles off and manned it. Both the jumpers will come through with us later when we go home. The MALP on the other hand was gone long before we got there."

"Well, from what I've seen they haven't got the equipment or expertise for it to be of any use to them, I don't think it should be a problem."

"In that case I'll leave it up to you to do the explaining when it comes to submitting the requisition for yet another MALP."

John gave a humph, then it was quiet for a few seconds while they just looked at each other and a private moment passed between them.

John broke the silence softly, "I thought you were on your way to get me out of here."

"I was just going now." Her fingers brushed his where they held on to the bars of his cell door and with a smile, she was gone.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

After they had visited with Colonel Sheppard and his team, Elizabeth, Lorne and his men were taken back to Goran's office. They had met again with the three councillors, where they quickly decided that a recess was probably the best course of action for the rest of the day. They were offered a place to stay on this world for the night, but the idea was politely refused, much to everyone's relief. Instead they would return again in the morning and continue to discuss the terms and conditions of any agreement they could come to. Lorne was glad to be getting out of here, but the thought of having to stand through a repeat of today was giving him a headache. On any given day he hated the small print on a contract as much as the next guy and being witness to every little detail being hammered out was driving him nuts.

Phelo had suggested that Maten accompany them to the Ring, he would have done so himself, he had said, but his old body was weary from such a long day.

The day was coming to a close on this world and the streets were darkening even as they proceeded to wind their way this way and that towards the gate. Once they had left the open area of the plaza in front of the Government Chambers, Maten had moved so he was keeping step with Dr. Weir, leaving a respectable amount of room between them, so not to alarm her protectors.

He kept his tone light as he spoke to her, "Today has been trying for each of us Dr. Weir, I hope tomorrow proves to be better for all of us." Turning to face her he could see from the corner of his eye, the guards also charged with escorting their guests back to the Ring were not close enough to hear his words. "I do hope that we can resolve this matter and find an end that benefits us both."

"That is all we want too, but its hard to do that when everything we offer is met with resistance."

"Goran acts under his orders from Athen. Maybe a long time ago he too would have seen the sense in accepting your generous offer, but for many years now he has been under the heel of the Brontae family's influence, he is too old and too set in his ways to be changed."

"You take a risk in speaking to me like this. What is it that you want from us?" Elizabeth was blunt and straight to the point. She couldn't beat around the bush any more for today.

"Earlier I tried to convince Athen that our people could all share in the things you had to offer us and forging a new friendship would be more desirable than making an enemy. He would not hear of it. He thinks only of himself, his beloved family and not of the best interests of the people he would have call on him for a leader." The words were bitter tasting in the back of his throat.

Elizabeth nodded her understanding, indicating to him to go on.

"Athen made it clear to us that he would settle for nothing less than your weapons technology. I would ask you not to concede to this. It is with regret Dr. Weir, that you have stumbled into a conflict between the dying embers of an old power and the next generation, struggling to make a stand, to change our ways and break free."

Her suspicions confirmed now, they had been dragged into the middle of a revolution, this was not the best news she could have wished for. "What exactly is it the Brontae's have to offer? What hold do they have over your people?"

"Foolish men like Goran think they can give him power. He doesn't realise that he serves only a few old men, whose only power is their reputation, sadly they fuel this belief by invoking fear into the people. The Brontaes are an old family and were once a governing force over everything on this world. Originally they were true protectors and providers for our people, when the Wraith came and destroyed much of what our ancestors had accomplished, the Brontaes rallied the people together, gave them the hope and the strength to rebuild. As you have seen, our home has fallen into disrepair while men like Athen and his father, Darragh, squander profits and sully a name that had the right to command the respect of our people. Men like Phelo however, have been working to change this. Slowly people are coming to see that what they've been told by this generation of Brontaes is a sham. They see there is no need to sacrifice what they work so hard for, and there is a better way of life not governed by greed."

They were on the edge of the field where the stargate stood now and a man from Lorne's team was dialling the gate, so Maten finished up quickly. "Please Dr. Weir, consider my request. Do not give in to Athen's demands."

"Maten, I can't promise you anything, we'll do our best to help you, but you must understand; I don't take kindly to my people being used as bargaining chips. I want them returned as soon as possible. Make no mistake, I will not allow Athen or his family to bring them to any harm."

Maten dipped his head in agreement then bid them goodbye.

* * *

The chamber was dark except for the two lanterns, one hung in its fixture on the wall next to the doors, one sat on the desk in front of the solitary occupant of the room. In his over sized ornately decorated chair, he slumped back into the folds of the cushions, enjoying the few precious minutes of peace while he could. The sounds of the people packing up their wares in the plaza outside drifted up and in through his open window. Cheery laughs and idol chatter faded into the side streets as folk headed home for their evening meal, the hubbub of the day's business over until it started again in the morning. As for himself, he could no longer perform the work of a younger man, but there were things that required his attention, things that kept all but a few of the people blissfully unaware of the dangerous position he was in - initiating the change that would undermine their leaders while he would act as a servant to them. If he and the men that worked with him were exposed too soon, they would be branded traitors, their work wasted and the balance of power would swing back into the Brontaes' hands. 

The soft knock on his door jolted him out of his deep line of thought. The brief time to himself was over. "Come in." he called

The door opened, the tiniest of cracks, admitting the young man he had chosen as the one that would follow in his place.

"Maten, did you get the chance to speak with her?"

"Yes, Phelo. She understands our plight, but she puts the safety of her people before all else. She will accommodate us as best she can, that is all she can do. The rest is up to us."

Phelo clasped his hands together on the desk, "That is probably the best we could hope for under the circumstances."

Maten waited for him to add something more to this, but at length realised that was all he was going to say without prompting, "What do you plan to do now?"

Silence ensued for a few minutes before Phelo answered, "Athen wishes to hold someone accountable, if we can move that blame onto just one of the prisoners, the man who flew the ship, we may be able to convince him to release the others. I think it likely, an attempt at a rescue will be made, if like you say Dr. Weir wants only to have her people returned to her. And one man is easier to save than four."

* * *

The news about how his men had lost possession of the most important technological find of their lifetimes had come to Goran the previous night, who in turn had to inform Athen. Just like what he had known would happen, Athen didn't receive this information very well. He had flown into an explosive rage to which Goran found himself baring the full brunt, without anyone else there to take a share of the blame. 

Athen had been depending on the little ship to use against Dr. Weir and her people. He had been hoping to access the wonders it surely held within, but failing that, it could have been used to barter for something else he could use. So when Phelo and Maten came to him that morning before their guests had arrived and again suggested taking what was offered for now and releasing all but the man who flew the ship, he found even though he was reluctant to do so, that he must agree.

* * *

Goran had been absent from the proceedings that morning due to an unexpected audience with Darragh Brontae, leaving Phelo and Maten to converse with Dr. Weir's team. Things had proceeded a great deal faster than they had the day before, now that the two remaining councilmen could speak more freely. 

By midday, two of Lorne's men were headed back to the stargate to bring back a shipment of medical supplies. The others went down into the sub-levels of the building where Sheppard and his team were still being held. Phelo had wanted them all to remain in his chambers while the guards went to collect the three who would be returning home. Once Elizabeth had explained to him one of the men they would be bringing up had a rather aggressive disposition and was likely to cause a scene when he realised Sheppard would be remaining behind, he consented to their presence while they were released.

What she hadn't added, was that she wished to tell John herself that he would have to stay for the time being. She didn't want to let him think that he was going to be the sacrificial lamb after all. Anyway, if at least one of them wasn't there, Ronon would no doubt jump the guard and break John out himself, and the tentative treaty with Phelo and Maten would be over before they could get outside.

Phelo had opted to remain in his office, so with Maten and three guards, Elizabeth stood outside the cell block door with Lorne and Sergent Mathews, much too soon to her liking. She still didn't know how she was going to tell John he was being left behind, on his own or how long it would be before he could come home.

As the door opened she instructed Lorne not to let Ronon out until he understood the way it was going to be and that it was in no way a permanent arrangement. She was going to speak with John.

* * *

John had heard her voice when the door was opened and came to stand by the bars to wait for her. There were no more voices as they approached so he couldn't tell yet who had accompanied her, but there were footsteps on the cold floor and more than last time. This could be really good or really bad. The curt nods from Lorne and Mathews as they passed, then her sad eyes, told him which way it had gone. Three men had followed Lorne past his cell too, leaving just Elizabeth. 

Stay optimistic he thought, it might not be as bad as you think. Well there was only one way to find out, so he said, "You're back sooner than I thought."

"Yes, there's been some progress." She whispered.

"Thats good then." He didn't want to ask, why then she looked so miserable.

"John," she looked quickly down the hall to where the others were outside Ronon's cell. There had been a rumbling of angry words that she couldn't quite make out and Lorne was gesturing with his arms as he spoke. She noticed too, Sergent Mathews had remained at a safe distance from the bars this time.

"John," she started again, "the Councillors, they have accepted a shipment of our medical supplies, in return they will allow Teyla, Rodney and Ronon to come back to Atlantis with us today."

"But not me?" The words were spoken with acceptance, but the forlorn look he cast her was hard to look at for long.

She moved closer to the door and her hands gripped the bars between them. "I'm sorry John. But don't think for one second that I'm leaving you here. It's just going to take a little longer to get them to come around."

"I know. You're doing everything that you can."

"These people are in the beginnings of a revolution and our presence here is being manipulated by each side. The younger man you saw go down with the guards is one of the Councillors and also part of a resistance. He is working to see you released before your life is traded for weapons that others would use to change the balance of power."

"I see."

"There is only so much they can do before their actions are brought into question. And while they didn't come straight out and say it, they acknowledged that we would be inclined to man a rescue mission when Athen refused to let you go too. I think you would agree that the extraction of a single man would be far easier than a whole team."

He knew this was true and the safety of his team was paramount to him. He pushed the feeling of abandonment into the back of his mind. This wasn't over yet, there was still a way. Being caged up like an animal was starting to make him stir crazy and he desperately wanted to be out there doing something to secure his release.

"Y'know, next time I think I'm gonna side with Ronon, try shooting our way out. That whole 'we come as peaceful explorers' line just seems to get us in trouble." He sighed, placing one of his hands near to hers where they rested on the bars. "He's not going to be happy about this arrangement. You should get him out of here as quickly as possible."

"Thats what we intend to do. But then, I'm coming back to continue the negotiations."

"I'd say there's a good chance they're not gonna let go of this. They want something we're not willing to hand over. They could just settle with what they've got."

Her fingers flexed ever so slightly, extending out to brush his hand. "What are you suggesting?"

"That maybe it's time for plan B."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

One by one, they all walked past his cell, each with a quiet word, reaffirming their commitment to getting him back home as soon as possible. All of them except Elizabeth. She would not speak the words of goodbye in front of the others, she wouldn't tell him of her worries if she failed, but for someone who knew her so well it was easy to see. It was in the way she folded her arms around herself as if trying to keep out a chill, the way the her brow furrowed just a little in the middle of her forehead and how she hesitated for a moment as if she didn't want to leave, that gave her away. John saw all these things and knew how she felt, but he trusted her with his life. He knew that if there was a way to get him out, without the needless endangerment of innocent people, she could find it. Such was his faith in her.

By the time the rest of them had resurfaced on the ground floor, the two other members of Lorne's team had returned with the medical supplies as promised. They had off loaded them on a couple of the grim, baton wielding guards in the entrance hall and left them to deal with putting the shipment away. Elizabeth had told them to escort the rest of John's team back to Atlantis, while she, Lorne and Mathews stayed behind to talk to Phelo and Maten.

The old man was where they had left him, sitting in his chair at the desk in his office. Maten showed them in and seated himself as well while offering them a place too.

"No that's quite all right, thank you," Elizabeth declined. "We won't be taking up much more of your time today. I just wanted to stop by and tell you that we appreciate what you've done."

Phelo gave her a sad smile, this had all been blown well out of proportion. "I would ask that you convey, on behalf of all our people, my sincere apologies to your team. Their detention was quite unfair. I hope they will understand our predicament and will not hold a grudge with all the people of this world. It would be a shame if Athen's actions jeopardised any future relations."

"I will express your regret in this matter. I'm sure that one day when your government has resolved some of it's more pressing issues, we will be able to find some common ground."

Phelo knew what her unspoken message meant. They were willing to accommodate them now because of the man they still held in the cells below, but after this was over, the people of Atlantis would wash their hands of them. They were not inclined to get any more involved in their domestic dispute.

"However, our business here is far from over." Elizabeth stepped forward, her hands gripping the back of the chair she was offered before. Her mouth contorted into not so much a smile as it was a baring of teeth. "And nor will it be until Colonel Sheppard is released. I intend to return here in the morning to continue the process and hopefully bring an end to it once and for all."

"In that case I suggest we go our separate ways so that we may..."

Phelo's words trailed to a stop. They could all hear the shrill sound of a woman's voice, shouting from out in the entrance hall getting closer and closer until the owner of the voice burst into the chambers.

The tiny figure stood in the doorway, her presence compensating for the lack of physical height. She was a pleasant looking woman, with flame red hair that was escaping the confines of the grips and clips holding it up in some elaborate design. The delicate features of her face were shaped into a respectable pose, so that you would never think the frenzied shouting had come from her, however her chest was still heaving from her outburst. She smoothed down the silky material of the vibrant dress she was wearing and rubbed a hand over her protruding belly that spoke of her advanced pregnant condition.

Out in the hall two devastated, red faced guards pulled the doors closed as they gave an apologetic shrug for letting her in. Apparently they weren't sorry enough to ask her to leave. This was the Councillors' problem now and if they wanted to risk their skin telling her to get out, so be it.

Elizabeth realised that Lorne and Mathews had moved nearer to her without her noticing. The screaming had made them a bit nervous it seemed.

Upon seeing who had joined them, Phelo had pulled himself up out of his chair and was holding it out to the woman. "Liadan, would you care to have a rest?"

"I am no invalid old man," she replied scornfully, but moved around the desk to sit down anyway.

Phelo was used to this kind of affrontment. It was a term she used any time they spoke and was something he would never get her to stop doing.

Maten had also risen from his chair, finding his place much too close to the volatile little woman as he would like. "To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit Liadan? Does Athen know you have come to see us?"

She eyed the younger man with a murderous glare then as if disregarding his attendance here, directed her reply to Phelo. "My brother tells me you plan to release all but one of the men who killed my husband. This is not acceptable to me, I have come here to belay his order."

A deadly silence descended on the room as nobody said a word.

Lorne had taken a second to glance at Elizabeth and then Mathews, both showed the same concern he did. His hand sought out it's place on his weapon by it's own accord. He wouldn't fire, but wanted to feel the reassurance of the familiar weight just in case. There was going to be trouble when this woman learned the truth.

"Please understand Liadan," Phelo started. "Your brother gave his permission for the exchange early this morning." He indicated to the other woman, "Dr. Weir has already provided us with the medical supplies as agreed. The three have been taken back to their home world. We no longer have them in custody."

Liadan slowly placed her hands on the desk and pushed herself to her feet. "Do you mean to tell me, you incompetent old fool, that for the sake of a few salves, some tincture and some useless herbal remedies, that you have let Athos' murderers go?"

Phelo hesitated before he answered quietly. "We still have the man who flew the ship..."

He didn't get to finish what he was saying. Liadan had a rage the rivalled her brother's and had charged for the older man. Phelo had started to back off, but his leg caught on the side of the desk, throwing his balance and he fell against the wall. With nowhere to go, he was pinned, helpless as the angry woman landed hit after hit on arm and chest. Maten dashed forward, pulling Liadan away from Phelo, all the while she screamed and thrashed about.

"Remove your hands from me this instant!" She screeched. "Don't you ever touch me!"

He deposited her unceremoniously back in Phelo's chair, then helped the stunned man retreat to the relative safety of the other side of the desk.

Elizabeth had thought the guards were due to come storming in the room any second now and moved out of the way of the impending onslaught, but it never came. It seem this kind of display was a somewhat regular occurrence and the guards had learned the hard way to stay out of it. Either that or the tongue lashing Liadan had given them before was enough for them to feign ignorance now.

"You will go and fetch the prisoners back! They must pay for what they did to my husband!"

"No, that's not going to happen. You are not the only one to loose a loved one Liadan. Do you forget or is it that their lives are not worth seeking retribution too?"

Elizabeth wasn't all that thrilled Maten had decided to remind her about the other men. This woman was mad enough, she didn't need any more reason to be angry right now.

"You will be silent boy, or do you forget the gutter from whence you came? You speak to me of _worth_? Phelo has taken you in and taught you well, you do a fair impression of a man of any worth, but you can learn there will always be a place for you back on the streets!"

Maten was flushed by her remark, but bit back any retort he would wish to make. Evidently, Liadan had hit a raw nerve.

Liadan had come to her feet again, her fists were tort and white, bunched at her sides, she studied the other parties in the room as they looked back at her. These strangers had the weapons her brother had spoken of. Her father had forbidden her to see the man who fell victim to it's power, but Athen had described to her in great detail what had happened. It was only for that reason she curbed her desire to lash out at them too. After all there was her child to think of. That was the only thing she had left of her husband now.

The sudden reminder of her husband's death made the pain in her heart flare, bringing tears to her eyes. Her head hung low as she fought them back, determined not to cry in front of these people. It took a couple of minutes, but she regained control over her emotions, concentrating on regulating her breathing, slowly in, slowly out. Her hands loosened their tight hold on her fingers and placed one of them protectively over her swollen belly feeling the warmth within. It was a maternal gesture many women in her condition made. She softly rubbed the area as if to comfort the child as well as herself, then became still once she had composed herself.

The sun streaming in through the window behind her, lit up her hair making it look as if it were on fire. With the one hand remaining on her child she looked back up into the room ready to face them again. Her eyes locked with the other woman and she noticed how she stood in a mirror image to herself and a moment of recognition passed between them.

Elizabeth saw Liadan's eyes flicker down to the hand she had on her own stomach then back up again to look at her, there was an understanding where defiance had been before. None of the men had noticed how similar their stance was as they watched the two of them as they faced each other across the desk.With a conscious effort Elizabeth took her hand away and forced it to remain at her side.

If she wanted to get this woman to listen to what she had to say, this was the best time to do it. "Liadan, please believe me when I say that we never intended to come here to hurt anyone. When we made contact with your world, we never thought it would have such a devastating effect, but what happened was an accident."

Well so far so good, Liadan was still listening, so Elizabeth went on. "I know there's nothing we can do for you or give you that will make up for the loss you've suffered, but what we offer can be of value to your people. All we want is to have Colonel Sheppard back."

"You would deny me the right to see justice served?"

"Do you honestly believe the senseless killing of another man will make you feel any better?"

"Well, when my child is old enough, what would you have me tell him? That his father's life wasn't worth a payment in kind? That his life was stolen from him, from _us,_ and his mother was too weak to seek atonement?" Liadan could feel the tears coming again.

"I would never ask you to do that. Instead I would ask that you find the strength to overcome you grief and to let just one small good thing come from this. Please, accept our offer. Over time our two peoples could enjoy a lasting relationship and all the benefits that come with it. You could make that happen."

Everyone in the room held their breath as Liadan turned the proposal over in her mind. She hadn't outright objected to it and looked as though she could come around to the idea. However before she could say anything they all heard the angry tones of a gruff male voice outside, in the hall.

Seconds later, Athen barged into Phelo's office. This family seemed to specialise in dramatic entrances, but he had been bested by his sister. When she did it, she could leave a trail of confounded guards in her wake.

Athen went straight for his sister who had lost her battle keeping her tears at bay any longer, leading her gently out the office, while he spoke to her softly. "Liadan, I told you I would deal with these people and now look, they've upset you."

Stopping in the door way Athen looked back at the Councillors. "I will discuss this with you later." Then turned his attention on Elizabeth. "As for you, you are no longer welcome on this world. You will leave now and not return, your business here is finished. There will be no more talks. The man still in custody will be charged in the morning, his case will be concluded and his punishment will take place the next day. That day will be his last. If you wish to come back and continue to pursue this matter, you will find your fate will be the same as his. Now go!"

With that Athen left with a now sobbing Liadan, tucked under his protective arm.

Cold horror twisted at Elizabeth's insides as she watched her best chance at getting Athen to agree, being led out the entrance hall. She had failed.

Maten and Phelo looked a bit shell shocked too, Phelo was still leaning his pummelled body against the wall for support. Both of them at a loss for words, knowing that they would have face Athen's wrath before the end of the day.

Major Lorne was still on form though and had not taken kindly to having the Colonel's life dismissed so quickly. Athen might think he had ended things here, but he was sorely mistaken. He came closer to the Councillors making sure he had their undivided attention when he spoke. "Colonel Sheppard is our leading military officer, he is respected by all the men who serve under him and there isn't one of them that would accept leaving him in Athen's hands. We don't leave people behind. Colonel Sheppard taught us that."

"Yes, I can see that. Athen has forced us all into a corner," Phelo replied. "There is very little Maten and myself can do now, but we will assist you where we can."

"You know we will come for him?" Elizabeth asked.

"I do. But if we help you, you must not hurt any of our people. That is all we ask."

Elizabeth hated that it had come to this, but whatever they needed to do to get John back would be done, so she told them, "Councillors, you have my word that none of your people will come to any harm as long as they don't get in our way, but we will have our man back."

"Very well. Let us part then, there is much to do. In better times, may we meet again."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"Are you sure now? No cuts and bruises? Nobody bashed you round the head?"

"I'm fine." Ronon dismissed the fretting doctor. The idea that anyone could simply _bash him round the head_ was sheer idiocy and if it had been any other man that had questioned his capabilities, he would have gladly demonstrated just how capable he was.

"You'll forgive me if I make sure myself," Carson said as he prepared the needle, "I know how you military types think that, a graze from a bullet here or a open knife wound there, are nothing much to worry about. Now just hold still, there you go. See, thats all I needed." Carson stopped his diatribe for a second as he wrote something on the label of the small vial of blood. "But you're not indestructible."

"Am I done now?"

"Aye, that's you. For now."

Ronon was up off the bed he'd been perched on and out the doors in a flash.

"Try and get some rest and something decent to eat while you're at it," Carson sighed, sometimes he didn't know why he bothered. No one listened to his recommendations once they were through those doors. Such was the plight of a doctor - everyone wanted a quick fix.

Rodney was last on his list. He braced himself against the coming sarcasm and constant jibes at the medical profession, something that the physicist continued to mock despite it being what saved his life and his team's more frequently than Carson cared for. There was only one other person that caused him even more grief during his stays, and for not the first time he found that he would gladly put up with it, if only to know the man who had become one of his unlikely friends, was safe.

Teyla had been waiting in the hallway outside the infirmary for Ronon to be cleared. Knowing Dr. McKay would be in there a good while longer than the two of them, she and Ronon had decided they would go straight to Dr. Weir's office so they could speak with her as soon as she returned. When Dr. McKay was cleared he could join them then.

They made their way through the corridors, their purposeful strides making quick work of the little distance. Personnel they encountered on the way gave them a wide berth, not sure if the two of them would stop if they got in the way. As they walked into the gate room, it was just in time to see a pale looking Elizabeth followed by Lorne and Mathews, come through the event horizon.

Teyla stepped forward to greet her, "Dr. Weir, we did not get the chance to thank you for seeing to our release."

"Teyla, Ronon, you are very welcome. Have you been to see Dr. Beckett yet?"

"Yes, we have just come from there. Dr. McKay is still having his examination, we would have waited until he could be present, but we had to speak with you right away."

"Yes, of course, I wanted to talk with the two of you as well. Once Dr. Beckett has finished with him, Rodney will most probably go to the mess hall. I suggest we go there to wait for him."

A couple of minutes later the three of them were setting their trays down at a table on the open balcony away from the other people so they could speak with some degree of privacy. Ronon wasted no time tucking into his food. After having to survive on the sever rations, meant only to keep them alive and no more, he could quite happily spend the rest of the day catching up on what he missed out on.

"Dr. Weir, we had wanted to let you know, that we believe it prudent that Colonel Sheppard is freed from those people as soon as possible and that we are more than ready to help with the rescue," Teyla said once she had swallowed a bite of her sandwich. She knew it was unnecessary to tell Dr.Weir this, but she wasn't the one that had spent a good deal of time cooped up in a cell. Even when you know someone will come for you, minutes can turn into hours and hours start to feel like days. Now John was on his own and from what she had learned about the man that held him captive since she got back, she was very concerned about her friend's welfare.

Elizabeth nodded her consent, "Thank you Teyla, but first we have to figure out a way to get back to see the Council, without further upsetting the man with a rope ready to slip around John's neck."

Two sets of confused eyes looked back at her from across the table.

"Did Lorne's men fill you in on what had been happening during our talks with the Council?"

"Yes, Dr. McKay demanded to know exactly what was going on the moment we had left the building where we were imprisoned."

"Why can't you just go back like you've been doing the last couple of days?" Ronon rumbled around a mouth full of whatever that was he was eating.

Elizabeth pushed the vegetables around her plate with her fork. "After you left I wanted to speak with the men who made it possible to have you released, to thank them and also remind them I still wanted Colonel Sheppard returned to us. While we were there, Athen, the foreman, his sister came to see us. She got a bit violent with the elderly Councilman, Phelo, but once she calmed down I was able to speak with her. For a second I thought I was getting through to her, but before she could agree to helping us, Athen came in and took her away. He practically threw us out, saying the negotiations were over and if we came back we could expect to be treated much like John."

"Is it still his intention to put Colonel Sheppard on trial?" Teyla queried.

"Yes. And he's already decided the out come, he's just using that as an excuse to justify it, to make a show of his power in front of his people. The day after tomorrow he's going to kill John."

"What? Then what are we doing just sitting around here?" Ronon had suddenly lost interest in his food at hearing of the imminent danger to Sheppard's life.

"Ronon, I can't just send in a team to extract him. Athen is not a stupid man, he's sure to have his men watching the gate and where John's being held in case we try that. He'll kill him out of spite before anyone could get close to him."

"I'll take care of any guard at the gate, there won't be anyone left to warn Athen."

Elizabeth could see Ronon was itching to be away, but he wasn't the only one who wanted this to be resolved and leaving a trail of dead bodies in his wake was not how this was going to go down. She shivered at his blatant disregard for the loss of a innocents life, but at the same time appreciated the level of dedication Ronon showed John. She had no doubt that he would do the same for any of the people he counted as his friends, herself included, but she wasn't quite there yet. "It's not as simple as that. These people are not our enemy."

"Yet they hold Sheppard hostage."

Elizabeth tried to be patient, but this really wasn't the time to be arguing about the delicate nature of this world's governing body, especially to someone who didn't much care. "Most of the population are traders and farmers and decent hard working people. All they've been told is that three men were killed, the man held responsible for this is in custody and will be punished in accordance to their laws. There are only a few privy to what's really going on. Under different circumstances we could easily become allies with them. I made a promise to the men who risked exposing themselves to have you released, that the innocent people of their society would not be harmed."

"Sounds to me like you care more for these strangers and their trading connections than you do about Sheppard's life."

"Ronon!" Teyla was shocked at how far off the mark he was, that and he'd actually had the nerve to say that to her.

Ronon's words had stung her and stunned her into silence. How could he possible think that she would put the life of anyone of them, anyone on this expedition, before the people that wouldn't think twice about killing them? Did he really think that poorly of her? Elizabeth could only stare at him unblinking, while he slowly spooned up another mouthful of food and proceeded to chew with more care than usual. He wouldn't meet her gaze, his eyes fixed firmly on something of great interest on his plate. Maybe he regretted what he said, he'd just needed someone to be angry at because he was incapable of taking any action and she happened to be the one that was telling him he couldn't go out risking life and limb to save his friend. Maybe, but it hurt all the same.

"I'm sorry Ronon. I didn't realise you had such a low opinion of me." It was just a whisper, but he looked at her then as if she'd just shouted at him in front everyone in the mess hall. There was something like an apology in his eyes now, but Elizabeth knew he would never say it.

It was Teyla that had to break the tension that had befallen them. "Is there nothing we can do?"

It was just at that moment Teyla saw Rodney come into the mess hall, he loaded his tray down with several plates, most of which she noticed were deserts. She caught his eye and waved him over, glad for once of his ability to completely ignore the awkward silence, but whether it was through his own lack of sensitivity or something else she wasn't sure, neither did she care as he cut straight through the heart of the problem.

"Ah there you all are, I see you didn't bother to wait for me. It makes me warm inside to know my friends care so much. Getting something to eat, while I was at Carson's mercy! You know he could use some practice honing his skills when it comes to taking a person's blood. I thought he was our _chief_ medical officer? I'm sure there's already a bruise starting to show. The man needn't be so rough. Anyway, how are we going to get Colonel Sheppard back?" Rodney didn't even stop for a breath before he started shovelling food into his mouth.

"That was what we discussing," Teyla told him. "Perhaps you could help."

* * *

Athen had taken his sister home to their father's house and got her settled with some effort. Her grief consumed her and she had sobbed into his shoulder until her body was racked and shook with the struggle of just trying to take small breaths. He had finally got her crying under a tentative control and had persuaded her to lie down and rest. He had needed to remind her that her distress would be doing her child no good and it was only for the love of her baby that she had complied with his orders. Even after that she wouldn't let him leave her alone and so he sat in the chair at the side of her bed. Holding her hand and speaking softly, words of comfort, until she drifted off into a fitful sleep. He had managed to pry her tiny fingers from his large coarse hands and slip out her room. He left instructions with one of Liadan's women to watch over her and check in on her from time to time. He had something of great importance to take care of then he would be back. 

He could feel the uncontrollable rage within him start to stir and simmer with each step towards his destination. How dare these people come to his world, destroy his sister's life and then have the audacity to come back, only to add insult to injury and causing her even more pain by trying to buy their way out of their responsibility. How could they honestly think that anything they could have given them would be equal in worth to Liadan's husband and the life they were building together. Not even if they had given him the weapons he had asked them for, would come close to retribution that was his right to seek. That way he would have considered returning the four that came through first, but now, that chance was gone. They had denied Liadan her future and then him the payment he sought in return. Now he would deny this man his life.

The chill night air did nothing to cool his temper as he got closer. Instead he let his righteous ire burn him up inside. He had no desire to stem the sensations, a fever was upon him and came near to complete madness. No man would dare question his decision. Not if they knew what was good for them.

* * *

John had been asleep, well nearly asleep,the closest he could get to actually sleeping was resting his eyes. Damn but this place was cold at night! They hadn't been given a blanket to go with the ridiculously small cots, that weren't nearly big enough to let a grown man get comfy on. He made a mental note to complain to the management when he checked out. And the busboys definitely weren't getting a tip, how did they expect anyone to keep eating the same gruel for every meal, five days on the trot? 

He turned over in his cot carefully, remembering the thud and then the muffled cursing that had come from the next occupied cell down the night before, when Rodney had rolled in his sleep and fallen onto the floor. He would have laughed if he hadn't been so cold.

Thats when he heard the scraping of key against lock, the quiet footsteps of a solitary man and the opening of his cell door. At first he couldn't tell who it was that stood before him in the dark, but the gruff voice gave it away.

"Colonel Sheppard, I have come to speak with you," Athen said into the darkness.

John stood. "Well y'know, I always welcome a visitor. I didn't expect you to be the kind of guy to make a secret call in the middle of the ni..."

John didn't get to finish the smart ass remark. Athen's strong fist had come flying out of nowhere and rammed it into his face. The force of it had knocked him back a step and he would have been able to stay on his feet had it not been for the cot hitting the back of his knees. He went down hard, the hand he put out to brace himself took some of the force of his landing, but his head still made contact on the back wall.

"Ahh, son of a..." John brought a hand up to comfort the place on his head where it had hit the wall. "Okay, I get it - that one was for your sister right? Fine, I'll give you that one for free, but I'm gonna start charging after that."

"You dare speak of my sister! Do so again and I'll kill you."

"Well that's what you're gonna do anyway wasn't it? Doesn't look like I've got much to loose."

Athen let out an incomprehensible shout as he charged at Sheppard where he still sat on the cot, arms stretched out ready to grab him.

John's eyes were more accustomed to the dim light and saw him coming this time. His position on the bed allowed him to aim his foot for a well placed kick in Athen's midsection, pushing him back. Athen lost his balance in the backward momentum and landed ass first on the hard floor. He was a little surprised at how well the other man had managed to over power him and made him question the wisdom of coming here alone.

For all his size Athen had seldom needed to engage a man in fight. It was mostly down to the threat of what he would to someone that made them complacent, all he'd had to do was tower menacingly over them and the mention of his father's name was enough to intimidate a man into submission. He had forgotten what type of man he was facing now. He had known when he and his team had first come through the ring that they were warriors and despite the man's lean form and the sub-standard conditions he had been held in the last couple of days, he could probably match anything Athen could throw at him.

John was back on his feet, his stance indicative of his intention to defend himself. "I'll talk with you Athen, but if you do that again, I'll kick your ass."

Athen considered his options as he came to stand a few feet away from Sheppard. He was about half a head taller than him and used the extra height as much as he could to look down on him. He would have taken great pleasure in squeezing the sorry life out of this man, but he would have to settle for the public demonstration instead. "You may live another night, but do not think I will not get what I want from you."

"I take it Dr. Weir isn't as easy to con than you're average market trader?" John sneered at him.

"Has no one told you yet?" Athen took another step forward. "Dr. Weir will not be returning. She was extremely eager to have you back, though I don't know why. She did her best of course, but she could not give me what I wanted. Strange, how a beautiful woman like that, would have nothing with which to satisfy a man. But surely there is something she has of worth, what she can give may be acceptable to your kind, but it wasn't near to the level of what I've come to expect. How else could it be that she leads in a world run by men?"

John bit back all the things he could have said about how vile Athen was and that he knew what he was implying was far from true. If this guy didn't get out of his face right now, they'd have to get someone to come in here and physically restrain him. He kept his tone as calm as he could and instead answered, "If that's all you have to say then I think we'd done here. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get a little shut eye. A man shouldn't have to endure a public hanging without a good night's sleep."

Athen laughed at him but he left all the same. Locking the cell behind him, he walked away.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Rodney needed a break from thinking. The conversation he'd had with the remainder of his team plus Elizabeth in the mess hall did nothing to lift his spirits. He'd expected that once they got back to Atlantis they could finally get a decent meal, a good night's sleep and everyone could get on with their lives again. He hadn't taken into account any of the complications that now plagued their efforts at the necessity of coming up with a rescue mission. Every suggestion made - and there weren't many to start with - had been picked apart, until all that was left were the flaws. They had all moved into the conference room once Lorne and his team had showed up and had stayed there for hours. Frustration turned into irritation and people started to snap at each other. They'd all forgive any transgressions made against them once they had John back, it was just the getting him back part that was starting to be a problem.

Time went by as time is known to do and it came to a point where various bodies were slumped over desks and slouched back into chairs.They were all tired and as much as they wanted to stay focused on finishing the job, there was just not enough coffee in the Pegasus galaxy to keep them functioning at any useful level. It was then that Elizabeth kicked them out and told them all to go get some sleep. The usual protests that they could still work for a while yet was met with an unwavering iron cast glare from Elizabeth and the voices were silenced.

Despite the ache in his limbs and the way his eyelids were taking longer to open when he blinked, Rodney couldn't help but stop by the science lab before he called it a night. He wasn't all that surprised that some of his colleagues were still bent over their work tops or peering into the screens of their laptops even at this late hour. He knew what it was to find a project that could engross you so completely that it seems as though nothing exists beyond you and your experiment, the need to make that one last leap of progress that could be the answer to everything you've always wanted to know.

He didn't know what it was he was looking for as he ambled around the room, maybe he'd stay for a little while to work on one of his own projects. Just until his mind cleared and he could start thinking again about what to do for Colonel Sheppard.

If he'd had the strength, he would have thought it a little funny, how even though they'd been friends now for coming up to four years and at some point he had even dared to call him his _best_ friend, but he still didn't call him by his first name. He always addressed him as Colonel Sheppard or just Colonel if he was in a hurry. Even Teyla would call him John when they were on down time and loosing the formality had taken some practice on her part.

It said a lot about how his mind worked when he used rank to talk to his closest friend. The formalities most of them had deferred to when they first arrived, whether it be rank or appellation, had fallen away within their social circles after a time, but in this case he couldn't shake it. He knew Teyla had referred to him thus, because she respected that his rank was a reflection of his achievements and that was what she called him when they were working. For him it was much different. Somewhere deep inside him he was still afraid that the friendship he had come to depend on to get through some of the more challenging times in his life in Atlantis, was only a shallow one, based on the fact they needed each other to survive. That without the constant peril, they wouldn't have anything to fall back on.

He decided right then that once _John_ was back, he was going to make a change. Hell, if he could share a tent with him and put up with the infuriating snoring too, he could damn well use his first name when he yelled at him to shut up!

Dragging himself out of that line of thought, he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and realised he had stopped walking. He looked down to find he was at the work station Radek usually reserved for himself. His note books were still strewn across the desk, open at the pages he had been working on. Rodney looked up then to see if maybe he was still around here somewhere just taking a break, but couldn't spot him. Oh well, Radek wouldn't mind if he took a quick look to see what he had been doing before he had retired for the evening. Reading the lines of messy scrawl, some in English, some in his native Czech, Rodney suddenly froze at what he saw.

His jaw started to work up and down as if it were getting ready for words that were moments away from being spewed out, just waiting for his voice to catch up with his thought process. "Oh, oh, yes, this could work."

The abrupt surge of life coming from his corner of the quiet lab piqued some interest with the other scientists. Several sets of eyes were squinting at him over the top of computer screens as he continued to think out loud, most of not in any fathomable, clear way that they could follow.

"This, this might just be... if they can find someone, of course they'll get someone...but then they'd need to, no that wouldn't do it, not unless...and I'd have to, yes I can do it...I just need a bit of time." He had been rocking back and forth, turning one way to ask a question, then swiftly turn back to answer it, then all of a sudden stopped dead and looked up into the room. He exploits had gathered everyone's attention and demanded into the crowd, "Where is Dr.Zelenka!"

* * *

Dr. Zelenka had been rudely woken, so had several other people in living quarters close to his own, by an insistent banging on his door and a man yelling his name. His brain told his body to ignore whoever it was, they could come back in the morning and when the banging had stopped, he promptly turned over thinking the person had gone away. Of course he had been wrong on that count. The banging had only stopped because the person outside needed both his hands to override the locking mechanism on his door. Hasty footsteps covered the distance from door to bed without any consideration for how loud they were being and a hand came out of the dark to shake his sleeping form. 

"What, what? Do you know what time it is?"

"Yes Radek, I know exactly what time it is," Rodney's coarse whisper spoke to him.

"I'm glad to see you're back, but could you not wait until morning to see me?" Radek had given up hope on getting back to sleep. He had been victim to Rodney's after hours visits before and it always turned out the same. He would come in, wake up him and a couple of his neighbours while he was at it, drag him away from his warm comfy bed, then use him as a sounding board for whatever project was causing his insomnia this time. Still only half asleep, Radek had to try to attempt at keeping up with Rodney's headlong rambling, often not able to get a word in edgeways, then endure his maniacal friend's jibes at his inability to help him in anyway. Eventually Rodney would quiet down and settle back into his work, then look up as if he was surprised to see him sitting there. At that point he would be curtly dismissed, his presence no longer required.

"Don't worry Radek, there'll be plenty of time later to fill me in about how the lab came close to meltdown without my guiding presence. But right now we have work to do." Assured that his friend was now properly awake, he stood impatiently waiting for him to make his appearance a little more acceptable, than the 'just rolled out of bed look' that he currently sported.

"This better be good or this is the last time I get up in the middle of the night, just to be abused. I'm going to start moving furniture in front of the door to stop you getting in."

"What?"

All the answer Rodney got was a mumbling of a few choice curses in Czech.

"Oh, don't start doing that. I hate it when you swear at me in Czech, how can I possibly defend myself when I don't understand a word you're saying? Anyway I brought you coffee."

That was a shock. Well there was a first time for everything Radek supposed. He received the half a cup of cold coffee, that was meant to be part bribe, part peace offering, with a word of thanks. Radek suspected that it had been someone else's coffee, if not one Rodney had made for himself earlier and he just hadn't bothered to make a fresh cup. He nodded and forced a half smile then ditched the cup on the desk top on the way out the door. He had to admit, Rodney's social skills were improving, he'd been thoughtful enough to bring the coffee, so it was a start. He'd just have to find a subtle way to tell his friend, that gifts for someone you want help from, need to be something a little more persuasive than your dirty washing up.

That had been two hours ago and Radek had since found himself a nice clean cup and a fresh pot of steaming java to console him over the loss of his bed. As it turned out, this was more that the average sounding board sessions he was used to, and more along the lines of an actual emergency, something a man wouldn't begrudge being woken for. It seemed, as much as it irked Rodney, that it was his work that could end up saving the day.

They had spent the last couple of hours working through all the theories, hammered out the details, double checked their results and corrected the imperfections the best they could with the time remaining. They had called for Dr. Weir to join them and considering it was now the very early morning, she had answered in a voice that didn't hold the tell-tale sound of confusion that still clouds the mind just before you're fully awake. Despite ordering the rest of them to turn in for the night, she had neglected to do so herself. She had arrived a couple of minutes later and not a second too soon. While Rodney and Radek were waiting on her, they had started to bicker again and that was the sound that greeted her ears as she strode through the lab doors.

"...anyway, I thought I told you we'd start the live tests once I got back from our mission?" The indignant tone could only be that belonging to Rodney.

It was promptly answered in an angry Czech accent, "It's a good job then that I ignored you! If I hadn't started when I did, we would not have a viable option for saving Colonel Sheppard."

"Oh please, I could have easily come up with the solution, it was only down to you, tinkering around with a system you're not sufficiently familiar with that slowed me down!"

"If you hadn't taken so long off world, then I would not have felt the need to begin without you!"

"Ah, hello? You were informed that I was being held prisoner, in intolerable conditions by the way, yes!"

There was more foreign, angry muttering.

"I asked you before to stop doing that. If you insist on arguing a moot point, can you at least do it in a language I understand, so that when you realise that I was right all along, I can stop trying to prove my point!"

Elizabeth had heard enough. The two scientists were facing off about a foot away from each other, both gesticulating wildly with arms, pointing at note books and computer screens for emphasis. If she didn't break it up now, they were at risk of grabbing each other by the lapels of their jackets and throttling each other. They were so caught up in the fight, they hadn't even seen her come in.

She coughed to get their attention. "All right gentlemen and I use the term lightly, settle down. Am I right in thinking I heard the magic words before?"

Dr's Zelenka and McKay both spun round to look at her over the desk, they straightened down their clothes the way a couple of naughty school boys would when the headmaster catches them fighting in the playground. Neither had the slightest idea of what she meant by 'magic words', so she had to elaborate.

"Somebody said something about 'saving Colonel Sheppard'. I assumed that's why you would call me down here at this time of night. So what do you have?"

Miraculously recovering from their falling out, Rodney indicated politely that Radek had the floor.

Graciously excepting, Radek stepped up. "Last year, I started looking into some research for one of my personal projects. Oh, in my free time!" He assured her. "I was hoping to design a personal cloaking device. I had gone through the Ancient data base for anything that could help, but I could only go so far until I had exhausted all my resources. In the end it just wasn't possible for me to create such a device with the technology we had available and so I had to leave the project unfinished. However, if you remember, a couple of months ago, a discovery was made by a team exploring one of the uninhabited parts of the city?"

"Yes I remember. It was some kind of storage facility, we've still got people cataloguing the last of items that were found there."

"Well, one of the things on the inventory was a cache of the shield devices..."

"Yes, like the one I originally found, just after we first arrived and used to get rid of that energy creature the Ancients left trapped in a cage for ten thousand years." Rodney beamed with pride but the stares he was receiving told him his interruption was unwarranted. "Sorry, please continue."

Radek had forgotten what he was saying for a second. "Ah? Oh yes, the shields. The shields, made me start thinking again. Their design is much like what I had envisioned a cloak would be like. Also, we have already seen examples of Ancient technology that is capable of acting in the capacity of shield or cloak. The jumpers are one and we were able to manipulate the city's own shield to function as a cloak."

"Wait a minute, are you telling me, that you think it's now possible to make a personal cloaking device?"

"No. Its much simpler than that. All we have to do is convert one of the shields into a cloak."

"Are you sure you can do this?"

This time both scientists were in complete agreement. "Yes!"

Radek piped up then, "This was what I had wanted to tell Rodney the morning he and the others were leaving."

Elizabeth remembered the encounter she'd had with him the other day in the control room. No wonder he'd been excited. She nodded at the two of them and allowed a ghost of a smile to grace her lips. "Then by all means, get on it."

Elizabeth turned to leave the men to their work, but Rodney called her back.

"Just a second Elizabeth, before you go, there's something else you should know."

And there it was, the _other shoe. _"What is it?"

"Considering the time restraints, this thing is going to be much less than perfect."

She didn't know where this was headed, but already she didn't like the sound of it. She regarded him with a questioning look in her eye.

"Radek's research revealed that when the shields were was completely depleted of power, the imprinting from the previous wearer is wiped. It's like taking the batteries out initiated a master reset, the factory settings have been restored as it were. When it's charged up again the one I wore will be able to work on anyone else who has the gene."

"Okay, Rodney, I get it. What's your point?"

"It's while it's in its depleted state, that we have been able to access the internal systems and make the changes needed to convert it. So far we've been very successful, I can't foresee any possible trouble completing this part of it. After this is done it may take some considerable time to recharge, it won't be as easy as putting in a fresh set of batteries and it's ready to go."

"Well do you have time to sufficiently recharge the cloak?" Elizabeth inquired.

"I believe so, yes. It's just that we won't be able to test it once we've finished. If we do that the cloak will become imprinted on whoever tries it, if we do that the device will have to be depleted again and reprogrammed again. There is no way near enough time for us to do this before the deadline.

The three of them were solemn as they contemplated the consequences of this. It was Elizabeth that spoke first.

"So, just that I'm clear about this, let me clarify the situation. You have a shield and will be able to modify it so it will operate as a cloaking device?"

"Yes."

"However, the first time we'll know if your work has been successful, is when Colonel Sheppard puts it on!"

"Well of course my work will be successful..."

"Rodney!" She cut him off. "Just answer me this; Honestly, how confident are you that this will work?"

He didn't miss a beat. "Elizabeth, I would never have suggested this plan if I though we couldn't pull it off. Yes, there will be a risk and we will do everything we can to ensure it is minimal, but I couldn't not tell you. It's going to be your decision whether or not to proceed, but I don't see that we have another option. I think this is the best chance we have to retrieve the Colonel, short of sending in a strike team."

It was a fair assessment and she was thankful that for once, he had just answered her question without embellishing the results to inflate his own ego. "Thank you Rodney. I'll trust your judgement. If you think you can do this, then I'll take you at your word."

They had nearly forgotten the other man was there, but Radek still had a point to raise. "We can do this Dr. Weir, but how will you get the device to Colonel Sheppard if we are not allowed to return to the planet?"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Major Lorne had been summoned to meet with Dr. Weir in her office to discuss the plan to extract Colonel Sheppard. He thought it a bit weird to have a pre-mission briefing without the rest of his team accompanying him, but he was just relieved that something was finally being done. He had gone to her earlier that morning, pleading her to let he and his team go in, taking a cloaked jumper. They could do it, he had assured her, but she shot him down. Apparently Dr. McKay had been working with Dr. Zelenka all though the night on a plan they'd conceived on some half baked theory about shields and cloaks. That was all she said she could tell them for the moment, but would contact him when they had a better idea of how they were going to proceed. So either the good doctors had devised some crazy assed, hair-brained scheme, or Dr. Weir was going to let him do it the good old fashioned way - go in armed to the teeth and bust him out the military way.

She had her head buried in her laptop and so hadn't seen him approach. He knocked on the glass panel and stuck his head in the open doorway. "Dr. Weir, you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, Major, please come in, take a seat." She pushed the laptop slightly to the side so there was nothing between them but the desk. Taking a deep breath she told him, "We're going to proceed with the plan Dr's Zelenka and McKay came up with."

"Yes Ma'am."

"You don't look too thrilled about it Major."

"No Ma'am. To be honest, I'd feel better doing this using tried and tested measures."

"I understand how you feel, but I'm afraid when I tell you exactly how we plan to get the Colonel, you won't feel much better."

"Ma'am?" Lorne was starting to get worried now.

Elizabeth resisted the urge to fidget in her chair under his intense gaze. "I'm going to get him."

"Excuse me!" That little bomb shell made Lorne forget to add a respectful _ma'am _at the end of his question.

"Earlier, I re-established our contact with Councillor Phelo via the radio he still had in his possession. He has agreed to speak to Athen on my behalf to arrange an exchange of prisoners."

"Who is it you plan to exchange with him, Ma'am?"

"The deal is, Colonel Sheppard will be released and I will take his place."

"What!"

"Major, please sit down while I explain."

Lorne was just about to say that he was sitting down, but when he checked he realised in his shock, he'd jumped to his feet. He forced his legs to bend and sat down again, just teetering on the edge of the chair.

Elizabeth clasped her hands together and entwined her fingers. "Athen just wants to hurt us as much as he can now. We insulted him when we refused to give up our weapons, he doesn't care much that Colonel Sheppard was the one flying the jumper during the accident. The only thing he thinks he can get of out of this is punishing us and killing our ranking military officer is going to do that. The idea that he can trade the Colonel for me has got to be pretty tempting, after all this deal would be a bargain for him, he'll be trading up so to speak."

"What makes you think he's going to go for this? Surely he'll question why you've agreed to take the Colonel's place on the chopping block."

"I don't really care what he thinks about my motivation behind this as long as he goes for it. Phelo will be doing his best to persuade him to take the bait. Once he agrees, Phelo will contact us and we'll be going through."

"So I am going to be a part of this plan, Ma'am?"

"Yes Major. I would like for you and Sergent Mathews to come through with me. As far as they know you will be seeing me safely into their custody then waiting to make sure Colonel Sheppard is released."

Lorne didn't know what to say to her so he just frowned at the desk and waited for her to either say something else or dismiss him.

"Major? I respect your military expertise and I'd like to get your input on the situation. I want to make sure there won't be unnecessary risks."

"Then take me through this, step by step. I need to know exactly what you plan to do. Why can't I take the rest of my team?"

She tried to keep her nerves at bay as she talked her way through her plan. "Okay. As soon as Councillor Phelo has managed to get Athen to agree, he will make contact with us. You, Sergent Mathews and myself will then go through to meet with them. Part of the arrangement will be that no more than two men will be allowed to come with me, but they will not be opposed to you being armed as long as I am not carrying a weapon."

Well at least he could keep his P-90, that was probably the only sensible part of this crazy plan.

Elizabeth continued. "You and Mathews will wait by the gate while I go to the Government Chambers, I'll have a radio with me so you'll know that I have made it that far. Once I'm there I will be taken down to Colonel Sheppard's cell."

"How do you know that they'll let you see him?"

"That was one of my demands in this trade. I will be the one to tell the Colonel about what will happen. If Athen doesn't agree to let me speak with Colonel Sheppard in private, then I would not consent to the swap and it's most likely to take place in the cells as its more secure than one of the Councillors' offices. This is where Dr's McKay and Zelenka's cloak comes in, we'll take care of the guard when he comes back, then all we have to do is sneak out through the front door and meet you back at the gate."

He couldn't stand it any more, this was insanity and he told her so. "Dr. Weir, I understand your desire to get the Colonel back in one piece, I want the same thing, but this plan is ludicrous!"

"I appreciate your concern, but it's not as if I'll be going in to an enemy stronghold."

"Yes Ma'am, that's exactly what you'll be walking into! Athen has the best defence and he doesn't even realise it - he's surrounded himself by innocent people that we won't want to hurt."

"And I won't put the lives of any more people at risk by ordering a strike team to go in. Not unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Dr. Weir, I think we've come to the point where it has become necessary. Please, let me take my team in?"

"I've made my decision Major."

"Fine, if I can't talk you out of it, then can I ask what you're back up plan is?"

"Like I said, I'll have a radio with me. Athen will be told that if I don't make the scheduled contact with you, it will be a breech of our contract and you will send for back up, to forcibly remove any threat he poses. The deal will be off."

Lorne sat there quietly processing all the information. She seemed to have thought of everything even if she didn't understand how foolish it was to put herself in such danger in the first place. His problem with all this wasn't the plan itself, it was the fact that she wanted to head it. It went against everything in him, to put a civilian on the front line like this, but he knew Athen wouldn't accept a swap with anyone else. She would argue that she would be able to defend herself if she had to - training with Teyla, studying various methods of self defence had really paid off. He'd had the opportunity to see her in practice not long ago and although she was nowhere near Teyla's level, she could give an unsuspecting man Athen's size a run for his money. Minutes passed and still he didn't say anything, but neither would she rush him while he thought this through.

Finally he came to his feet, his body was tense and he was nearly at attention, his eyes to the front, refusing to look directly at her. "Ma'am, I'd like to plan and select the men who will be providing the back up personally, because if we all manage to live through this insane rescue mission, Colonel Sheppard is going to kill me when we get back."

Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief. She needed Lorne's support to do this, but she knew now she could count on him, even if he didn't approve of her methods. "Major, feel free to act at your own discretion. Just let me know before we leave."

"Yes, Ma'am." Lorne looked at her then and gave her a small nod. He left her in her office and went to assemble the troops, all the while still trying to talk himself into believing this would work.

* * *

Ronon and Teyla had been asked by Major Lorne to be part of the back up teams that would go through on cloaked jumpers if Dr. Weir's plan went south. It was for that reason they and Lorne had been called to see Zelenka and McKay while they gave them a briefing on how the cloak would work, now that he and Zelenka had finished. Lorne had gone to pick the shield, cloak, whatever it was, off the desk to get a better look only to have his hand slapped away by a very irate looking McKay.

"Major, I know you're opposed to this plan, but if you're resorting to sabotage, could you at least wait until no one is looking!"

"What did I do! I only wanted to look at it."

"Then admire my work from afar! Weren't you listening when I was explaining?"

Lorne just gave him an unfriendly stare.

"You have the ATA gene Major. If you start picking it up and messing around with it, you could have inadvertently turned it on and it would be imprinted on you! All our work would have been wasted."

"Okay, okay. Sorry, I won't touch it."

Something occurred to Teyla then. "If nobody but Colonel Sheppard can touch it, how are we to get it to him?"

Rodney rolled his eyes turning to Radek who was standing just behind him and muttered, "Did I not just explain this bit?"

Radek nodded his assent, Rodney's exposition had been clear enough to him.

"Nobody with the _gene _can touch it!" He stressed the word 'gene' to make his point.

The two scientists looked superior while on the other side of the work top, the three warriors tried not to appear too defeated.

Ronon spoke up then. "Gene or no gene, they won't just let her walk into Sheppard's cell with this thing in her pocket."

That was obviously something they hadn't been able figure out and the smug smile on Rodney's face dissolved. "We thought we'd, ah, leave that to you. You have to earn your pay somehow." Watching the shadows darken Ronon's features, Rodney's bold words trailed off. Sometimes that guy can be a little scary.

"Don't worry Doc, you can't have the answer to everything." Lorne chipped in, still a little sore about being shouted at like a naughty child.

"Oh and I suppose you already know how you're going to get it past them?"

"Yes." Ronon's deep rumble left no room for argument.

* * *

Elizabeth had gone to her quarters not long after Lorne had left her office. She had tried to forge ahead with some of the work that had accumulated while she had been coming and going from her meetings with the Councillors, but the progress was slow. Her mind refused to focus, her eyes blurred when she tried to concentrate, and she ended up reading the same paragraph over and over. Eventually she had to admit defeat and left to take a break.

She had been awake for the last two days and the night before she had been plagued with dreams that still haunted her now she was awake. Walking around her room, that was her own private space, she allowed her doubts to come to the surface. If she was going to pull this off she had to be confident and that meant there was no place for the things that niggled in the back of her mind, so she would take some time to work through them one by one. After a while her nerves settled, but the need for something to do still drove her to pace about. As she turned once again, she looked at the door that went through to the bathroom. Suddenly the urge to scrub away the grime from the previous day had come over her and before she knew it she was under the steaming water.

She let it wash over her body as though the heat could scour away all her worries, the fear that she wouldn't be able to what was needed to save John. For a time Elizabeth just stood under the water, just relishing the feeling, but the thought that Phelo could contact them at any time occurred to her. She grabbed the soap and begun to wash, but her hand stopped as it came to her stomach. Holding it over the place where the life within was growing a little more each day, she thought, in about six months she and John would have a child. Her emotions threatened to overwhelm her then, but she held the tears back. This was everything that she had really wanted, to have a family of her own.

She had thought it would be Simon she would eventually settle down with, but after he had told her that he had taken her at her word and found someone else to share his life with, the chance seemed lost. At first the news had been an awful shock, it had crushed her and soon enough she had been so mad at him she couldn't wait to leave Earth and get back to Atlantis. The people here had made her part of a new family, their love and support had made this place more of a home than Earth could ever be to her now. This is where her heart was. Her memories of Simon were bittersweet, and looking back now, she truly wished him all the best. The end of their relationship had been like one of the last major strings that kept her attached to Earth, being cut. It was the start of a new life, abound with the struggles and hardships that came with being a leader, but somewhere along she way she had found happiness. She didn't believe in fate, but she and John had been thrown together and what had started out as a friendship between colleagues had transformed during the years, the experiences they shared bringing them closer.

And now, what she thought she would never have, was a reality, one that was at risk of being snatched away from her. She wouldn't let it happen. She had seen the anguish on Liadan's face when she placed her hand over her child and remembered her husband. Elizabeth swore to herself right then, that was not going to happen to her and John. She needed him too much and their child would need it's father. That was what was at stake, that was the burden she carried all on her own. Besides Carson, she and John were the only ones who knew about the child and for now thats how it had to stay. She was sure that gossip and rumours had let everyone in Atlantis know they were together, but they did nothing to either confirm nor deny people's suspicions. Their relationship was private, the exception of course was being John's team who were subtle enough to make sure it get any further.

Elizabeth shook herself out of her reverie. There was no more time for this. She got out of the shower, dried off and went in search of a fresh set of clothes. Once she was dressed she took a deep steadying breath to brace herself, then headed out for the control room. She would be ready when Phelo called her.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

It wasn't breakfast, lunch or dinner time, so when the key unlocked the cell block door, John rolled off the small cot and walked to the bars, curious to know what this untimely visit would bring. He just hoped it wasn't more of the same, like the one he'd had last night when Athen had come to see him. His head was still thumping, a dull ache that made sleeping all the more difficult and he could taste the blood when his tongue passed over his split lip.

Elizabeth accompanied by a lone guard was the sight that greeted him. As he took in the serious demeanour of both of them he noticed she looked different. Still decked out in the familiar red and black Atlantis get up that she preferred over the grey everyone else wore, her soft, brown curls he was so used to seeing hanging loose, framing her face, had now been pulled back and pinned up at the back of her head. She never wore her hair up when she had to and it struck him as strange that she choose now to make a sudden change in her appearance, but kept the thought to himself.

Instead he asked, "Hey, what's up?"

The guard informed them, "You have five minutes to say want you need." Without another word from any of them he unlocked John's cell then once Elizabeth was inside locked it again.

The look of warning in her wide eyes told John to remain silent until the guard had retreated to outside the cell block.

Once the door creaked shut Elizabeth didn't waste a second. Her hands flew up to her hair and she released the clips holding it in place. "We're leaving."

"Excellent. Does our guard know that?" He asked as he watched her work.

"Not yet." Finished removing the clips Elizabeth shook her hair free and placed the small item that had been concealed within her curls into John's hand. "You're going to need this."

"I see Ronon's been giving you some styling tips." He turned the smuggled object over in his hands and could now see it was a shield device similar to the one McKay had discovered shortly upon their arrival to Atlantis. His eyes flashed in excitement as the adrenalin started to pump through veins in preparation to the jail break he was about to embark on. "Cool!"

She gave him a grin.

"Hang on a second, the last I heard, the landlord had barred you. Why's he suddenly changed his mind?"

"Things change." Was all the answer she'd give him before changing the subject. "What happened to your lip? Did they hurt you?"

"Didn't pay my rent! Don't worry, that's all I got." John didn't know why her tone didn't sit right with him, but he asked, "So what's the plan? Wait until they come to take me away then Lorne and co make a diversion..."

Any hint of a smile was now gone from her face as she interrupted his flow, "They don't want to keep you any more. You've been absolved."

"Then why... What's the point of all this?" The confusion was plainly etched on his face as he gestured to the device she'd just given him.

She inhaled deeply, knowing what she was about to tell him was more than going to upset him. "They think I'm taking your place. Right now they think we're having our last goodbyes and in a couple of minutes that guard will come back to escort you back out and I will remain here. I prefer my idea, in which we all go home. Right now."

Silence rebounded off the cell walls.

"What?" It was barely more than a whisper, but with the venom in which it was spoken, he may as well have screamed. Colour was rising up his neck into his cheeks and his hands had balled into tight fists at his side and his knuckles were beginning go white.

"Just listen to me John." She put her arms out in a placating manner. "John, this is the only way to go if you still want to get out of here without any more death."

He wasn't hearing her. "You agreed to stay here and be put to death? Are you out of your mind!" And now he was shouting. "And where the hell is Lorne!"

"I have no intentions to stay here any longer than the time it takes us to get to the gate - that's where Major Lorne is. I had to make them that deal in order to see you. After they agreed to release the others we were informed that visiting hours were over. There was no other way to get in here to give you the cloak."

"I thought this was a shield?" He spat the words out.

"_Was_ a shield. Rodney's been working with Zelenka on it non stop since he got back. Now would you please listen to me and I'll explain how this is going to work?"

He nodded yes. He had managed to reign in his anger but obviously didn't trust himself to speak yet.

"Good. You are going to put on the cloak. Then when the guard comes back, once he's opened the door, you're going to have to knock him out." Just instructing him to physically harm another person didn't sit at all well with Elizabeth, even if their survival rested upon it and especially since she had learned to do these things herself. "And remember, just because no one will see you, it doesn't mean you can't be hurt."

He nodded again. "What if he doesn't open the door?"

"He will."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because one of his wards will have disappeared and the other one will be passed out on the floor."

He gave her a skeptical look.

"I know, but that's the best we've got." She apologised with a half hearted smile that came out as more of a grimace. "You ready to do this?"

"As I'll ever be. Y'know this isn't what I had envisioned when I said plan B." He raised his hand to place the cloak on his chest then paused. "Wait. What happens after that? I'll have the cloak, but they'll still be able to see you. How are we supposed to get past the rest of the town?"

Elizabeth only got as far as opening her mouth to respond before the bolt was unlocked again and the guard began his return.

"Quick." Was all she managed to whisper as she moved to take up position on the floor.

John engaged his cloak and moved into the corner beside the door so the guard wouldn't bump into him. Elizabeth had watched him with her breath held as the cloak enveloped him. This was the moment of truth, whether or not Rodney's modifications had worked and they could get out of here with as less fuss as possible. Watching him disappear was the sweetest thing she had ever seen.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor towards them. John turned back to Elizabeth to make sure she was in place. The footsteps stopped indicating the guard had arrived.

"What's going on here!" The question had come from the guard.

It was some what expected that the guard would be startled by the scene in the cell. What John hadn't expected was a response to that question. "I don't know sir, they were both here just minutes ago. The cell was locked, there was no way for them to get out."

John spun silently on the spot to face the rather nervous looking man that had brought Elizabeth down and another larger man who was obviously his supervisor. He cursed to himself at their bad luck as he rolled his eyes. _Nothing's ever easy, _he thought.

Nonetheless, the guards had taken their bait. "Get this door open and check on her." Ordered the larger man, while his eyes roamed the cell and the corridor around him, searching for the missing man.

The first guard hesitated, "What does it matter if she is well or not?"

"Because Athen wishes to demonstrate in public, that he can bring justice when our people are killed by strangers that come to our world with no value on human lives," the supervisor explained to him. "Now hurry up and open that door. We must have at least one prisoner alive and in our custody."

Readying himself, John looked on as the guard turned the key, pushed the door and tentatively stepped in, fully expecting whatever had incapacitated the doctor to pounce on him too. Not being one to disappoint, John took his cue and struck the man squarely on the back of the neck, downing him without any fuss. John sent out a silent prayer of thanks to Mr.Spock - inspired by the infamous Vulcan trick - his attack made it look to the outside observer that the man had simply fainted, luring the other man in behind him. This time when John hit the man, it wasn't as successful as the last. Only disorientated, the man swung about blindly, flailing his arms out and managed to catch John's shoulder. Shocked to have made contact with something that wasn't there, he began to back off out the door.

Careful not to tread on any bodies, John followed him at a charge, rugby tackling him around the waist, sending him flying out the cell door headlong into the wall. Judging by the crack the man's head made as it bounced off the wall, John guessed the big guy wouldn't be waking up until at least sometime tomorrow.

So far so good, the plan was working, all they had to do now was escape the through the building and high tail it through the town, back to the gate. _Baby steps John_, he told himself and disengaged the cloak. Offering his hand to help her up, he restated his previous question. "Okay Elizabeth, I know how I'm going to get out, what about you?"

She dusted herself off now she was back on her feet, inspecting his handy work, then looked back to him. "The same way you are."

The face he pulled clearly showed his confusion, so smiling again she took his hand in hers and said, "Like this."

Her actions did nothing to alleviate his troubles so she added, "Rodney tells me that if you turn the cloak on now, it should extend the field around me as well, and as long as we stay in contact it should work for us both."

"_Should? _He didn't think to test it?"

"There _was_ an issue of time and if he had attempted it, the device would have been imprinted on the test subject, which meant he would either have to restart the modifications on another device or completely deplete this one of all its power then recharge..."

John got the point - time was an issue - he held up his other hand to halt her explanation "Okay, okay. Is there anything else I urgently need to know?" He'd asked not really thinking there would be.

"Actually, yes"

"Of course there's something else. Why did I think this was gonna be easy?" He rolled his eyes again, "Let's have it then." He knew he shouldn't have asked.

"We should probably get out as fast as we can."

"That's a given, Elizabeth."

"No, I mean, we couldn't accurately predict how long this thing is going to last and if we take too long while we're both using it, it may fail before we get back. Rodney assures me that we can make it out of the complex and at least some way into the town where at least there"ll be places to take cover, but beyond that..."

"It could go off line at any time." he finished for her. "Great."

Elizabeth wasn't exactly overjoyed at learning this either when Rodney had told her. He'd said that unlike the shield,the power output would spike only when something came in contact with it, the cloak would be using power all the time, to hide them and compensate for the displacement affect. Well that's what he said. She's stopped him when he started to reel off a stream of techno-babble that would only confuse her. She got the point; they had to be quick. She was just thankful that he'd been of mind not to mention this in front of Lorne, the last thing she needed was another fight. "At least it'll give us a head start."

"We should probably get on with it then."

With their fingers interlaced, he put the device back to it's place on his chest. Both breathed a sigh of relief as they realised it had worked.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Just don't let go." She told him.

* * *

Unfortunately Rodney's estimates had been spot on. They had manage to get up to the ground level of the building, where Maten, Phelo, Athen and several of his guards had been waiting in one of the offices. The doors to the chambers had been open, so when they had crept past, they had heard Athen demand, "What is taking them so long? I told the guard to give them five minutes then bring Sheppard up. You two," he pointed at a couple of the guards with him, "Go get him now. I want them off our world." 

The two guards padded off down the corridors like faithful hounds, while John and Elizabeth dodged someone coming in through the main doors.

They could make faster progress now they were in the open area of the plaza and they ran for the cover of the buildings. The falling dark cast shadows over the deserted side streets, a meager protection as the power drained from the cloak. With the image of his hand flickering in and out of his sight, John pulled her to a darkened spot under the wooden scaffold of a dilapidated structure and pressed her up against the wall. The power was fluctuating wildly until it spluttered out and the cloak deactivated, falling from his chest, John caught it with his free hand and stashed it in his pocket. They were on their own now until they got to the gate.

"You okay?" He asked her as he searched her eyes.

"Yes." Her heart had been racing as they passed Athen and the others, but she couldn't help feeling just a little thrilled at what they were doing. She had never thought running for their lives could be this...Exciting! However she wouldn't object if this was an isolated incident. She'd leave the running to the marines in the future. Pulling the radio out of her pocket she gave it to John. "Here, you better contact Lorne, tell him we're on our way."

John took the radio, peering out for where they hid to make sure nobody had seen them first, he brought the radio up to his mouth and spoke softly. "Major Lorne, this is Sheppard,do you copy?"

"Sir, this is Lorne." came the immediate reply.

"We're just outside the plaza, in some side street, we're making our way back to you now. ETA is five minutes, get ready to dial the gate when I tell you. Oh, and please be advised - the cloak has been depleted of power."

"Copy that sir, we'll be ready."

John looked back to Elizabeth then, her hand still firmly in his. "Okay, any second now, Athen's gonna realise we've gone, so let's move out."

* * *

"What do you mean they have escaped!" Athen was livid. The two guards he had sent to bring up Sheppard had instead returned with the guard that had taken Weir down first. 

"Sir, please forgive us, we were attacked, but we could not see our assailant!"

If anything, the guard's excuse only caused to further Athen's fury. "Useless creatures! Every one of you! Yet again I am forced to take care matters myself."

With that Athen stormed out of Phelo's office where they had all been waiting, he crossed the hall to Goran's empty chambers, then reemerged moments later. He headed for the main doors with one of the P-90's that had been confiscated from John's team, that were still in their possession and started to pick up his pace once he was outside.

Maten had been watching from the doorway to Phelo's office and seen him take the weapon. He had no doubt on how Athen intended to fix his problem. He couldn't let him have his personal vendetta at the price of the people's safety, they needed to stay on good terms with the people from Atlantis. Any future alliance depended on it. Slowly at first his feet moved him in the direction Athen had gone, he could hear Phelo call him back, but he ignored his friend's pleas. He had to stop him.

* * *

There had been a few close calls, but they had made it unseen to the edge of the town. John had stopped to radio Lorne to tell him to get the gate dialled and send through his IDC. He and Elizabeth had stayed in the last bit of covering before the town gave way to the open field where the stargate was being held up by the temporary, fragile wooden structure, pieces being held in place by rope support. It flashed into life and Lorne had came to meet them half way as they jogged over the small distance. 

John didn't stop moving while he swiped the back of Lorne's head. "That's just for starters Major. Wait 'til I get you back."

Lorne was quite happy to let John crack him over the head, as long as the all got home in one piece, he'd take his lickings without complaint.

Sergent Mathews had stayed by the side of the DHD, looking back towards the town for any sign of a threat, but it all appeared to be still apart from the three approaching figures heading for the gate.

Ten feet from the gate, John urged the two men in front of him and Elizabeth to proceed. They'd made it, he couldn't believe his luck at how easy it had been. A quick glance at Elizabeth told him she felt the same and he offered her a smile, one she returned whole heartedly as she squeezed his hand.

Mathews disappeared through the event horizon, Lorne right behind him. He had heard the noise, identifying it immediately, but his forward momentum was such that it carried him unbidden through the wormhole, back to Atlantis, he couldn't turn back to see where the gun fire had come from.

* * *

**A/N:** Ha ha ha... You didn't think I'd let them get away that easy did you! Well for all of you who want to know what happens next, you must be nice and leave a review! So I'm nearly done now, there's just two more chapters after this and then we're all done, so stay tuned... 


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Lorne had nearly stumbled into Mathews when he came through, grabbing the radio tucked in his vest, he called out, "Colonel Sheppard, please come in!"

Static was the only answer.

"Sir, is everything all right?" Mathews inquired.

"I'm not sure Sergent. Just as I was stepping through, I'm sure I heard gunfire come from the edge of the town."

"Should we go back sir?"

"Give them a minute. If there was an attack they might have to take cover and if we break the connection it could cut them off from their only escape route. If they don't appear in the next few minutes, we'll head back."

"Yes sir."

All Lorne could do now was hope he was mistaken about what he had heard. He stood to the side of the gate, watching the innocuous rippling effect of the light.

* * *

John had switched to autopilot the second he heard the short burst from the automatic weapon and flung himself and Elizabeth hard onto the floor. The weight of his body pressed down on her as he tried to shield her as best he could. They had fallen just to the side of the gate next to what must have been the only bush in the field and scrambled on hands and knees to get behind it. It wouldn't stop bullets, but now the sun had set and the without the light of the stargate to cast them in silhouettes, anyone from the town would have a hard time seeing them. 

"Oh my god! Where's that coming from?" Elizabeth panted as quiet as she could.

"Sounds like whoever it is was firing from near that last building," John told her. "Are you okay?"

"Under the circumstances...What are we going to do now?"

"We can't stay here, there's no cover, we'll have to make a run for it."

"Are you serious!"

John didn't need to tell her he was.

There was another random burst, the shots echoing over the open field and then a familiar voice called out to them. "Colonel Sheppard, I don't like being deceived! Come out now and I will forego killing both you and Dr. Weir."

John looked at Elizabeth. "Y'know, I don't quite trust Athen, he seems a bit unstable," he whispered.

Their lack of response resulted in yet another burst, bullets ricocheted off the stargate, much too close for comfort for John. He was about to say that if he kept shooting blind like this, he'd run out of ammo real quick, but the sound of buckling from the wooded supports holding the gate up, made him forget what he was thinking. Some of the rounds in Athen's last shot had cut through the ropes and with their reinforcement gone, the sudden shift in balance proved to be too much. The weight of the stargate cut through the inadequate structure like it were paper.

John and Elizabeth couldn't believe what they were seeing. From its elevated position above the ground, the stargte was slowly moving on its rim, inching closer to the edge of its platform until it found the end. The fall was only a couple of feet high, so when it hit the grass it continued to roll smoothly along the ground. The brusque descent was just enough to push it a little further so that when it caught up with the natural decline in the land, it picked up a bit of speed.

John wished right then, that he could just take a moment out of time to fully appreciate the situation. Here he was, being rescued by Elizabeth and escaping from prison before they took him away to be hung, they'd gone on the run trying to get out of town only to be shot at just as they were making their getaway and now the stargate was rolling off like a giant wagon wheel into the fading colours of the evening sky. It was so surreal you just couldn't make this up. But with each second that passed as he watched on with wonder, the gate was moving further away from them and leaving more open ground for them to traverse.

Elizabeth could only lie there in the grass, slacked jawed, watching. It was almost hypnotising, the way the gate spun, the coloured light of the puddle rotating inside the whirl of the illuminated star co-ordinates along the border. John's hands where on her then pulling her up off the floor and then, hand in hand they we running again.

* * *

Athen had seen the movement from the outskirts of the field and shook away the bewilderment that had seized him when his stray shots had ripped through the support ropes. They were running for the Ring, this was his moment, he could get them. He brought the weapon up to aim at the figures making a mad dash towards their escape. His finger curled around the trigger and began to pull it back, all the while never taking his eyes off his target. Bracing himself against the weapons' power, he forced his finger down and the noise rattled in his head as the gun spat it's bullets out. Something charged into him then from behind, knocking him to the ground. More surprised than anything, he wrestled around until he could see what had sent him flying only to come face to face with the young man Maten. 

His anger, never far from the surface, flared, he jumped to his feet and pinned the other man down with a boot firmly on his chest. "Meddlesome boy, how dare you challenge me! What do you think you are doing?"

Maten stared at him defiantly despite his disadvantage. "I can not allow you to kill these people. An alliance with them could change the way we all live for the better. You would throw that all away because they would not bend to your will. Your pride can not be the price for the lives of our people!"

There was a dangerous glare on Athen's face as he spoke to Maten, the last words he would hear in this life. "I am the one in charge on this world and if I chose to, I will demand the highest price. The price I put on you, is your life." And with that, he took his foot off Maten's chest and fired on the prone man until he claimed his toll.

He turned back to the field just in time to see the gate teeter on it's side and crash forward. The light had gone now the wormhole had disconnected. He knew Weir and Sheppard would have made good use of his distraction and made it to the ring. They had alluded him when he had been so close. If it hadn't been for that interfering wretch Maten he would have killed them, he was sure. Outraged at his failure and with no one to take the blame, he looked down at the dead man and kicked him. Leaving the bloodied body where it lay, he headed back home. His father would have to be informed of the events here tonight.

* * *

They hit the floor of the gate room with an almighty thump. 

"Ahh... man. Lets never... do that again."

It was just their luck. They couldn't come out somewhere near the bottom of the gate, oh no. They'd exited at the highest point of the wormhole and fell fast.

John had realised this was a likely scenario as they made their jump, he'd pulled her closer wrapping his arms around her back and put a hand protectively over her head, once they were through the other side he hoped to shield Elizabeth from the impending fall.

For the most part this had worked. He had meet the ground with his back, the force crushing the breath from his lungs. Elizabeth had landed right on top of him. He could have sworn they had bounced.

"Never again." She groaned in agreement. She lifted her head up from his chest "Hey, are you all right?"

He nodded his head yes from where he lay. "Just winded... Might have a ... bruise tomorrow... You okay?"

"I'm fine." She put her head back down on his chest listening to how his laboured breathing struggled to regain a steady rhythm and sighed herself. That was a close call.

"Sir, god, what happened? I heard gunfire just as I was stepping through." Lorne came rushing from where he had been waiting to where they lay.

"Tell you later Major. Right now, I'm not moving 'til Beckett's team gets here."

"I've already called Sir, they'll just be a minute or so. Are you sure you two don't won't a hand up? Looks a bit uncomfortable down there."

Elizabeth lifted her head again, but just slightly, "We just need to catch our breath Major, we'll be fine once the med team arrive."

Lorne didn't look all that convinced.

"Really Major, just give us a sec'," John tried to reassure him. "That was good work Lorne. Take the rest of the day off."

Lorne felt awkward standing over the two leaders of the Atlantis expedition while they refused to get up off the floor and was a little unsure what to do with himself, so he retreated back to the base of the stairs with Mathews just in case the Colonel needed him.

Both Elizabeth and John knew, after seeing the two of them literately drop back into the base, the people up at the control stations would be shocked at the sight of them, their bodies a tangled mess, but they didn't care. Within a few minutes one of Carson's teams would come bustling onto the scene to take them to the infirmary and neither felt like testing exactly what parts of them hurt the most, so they remained where they were on the floor of the gate room.

After a while, for propriety's sake, Elizabeth knew she had to move. Now matter what had just transpired, she wouldn't be able to provide a reasonable excuse for lying sprawled across John any longer. With Lorne being dismissed, no one else would come near enough to disturb them so she'd have to make the first move. She brought her arm up to support her as she began to sit up, but winced as she found it hurt to put any pressure on it.

John noticed the discomfort flash on her face. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"Probably where I connected with the floor. It'll be fine" She gave him a brief smile and waved off his concern, scanning the room to see if their colleagues were wise enough to stare at them discretely. Everyone was politely ignoring them.

John reached up and caught Elizabeth's hand in his.

"Where'd this come from?"

She drew her eyes down to where he was looking. The tips of her fingers were stained crimson. She hadn't even felt the warm liquid that was clearly smeared up her hand.

"Where..."

She cut him off as he began to ask his question again. "John, your shoulder."

"What?" He strained his head round to where she was looking, but couldn't quite see.

"John you've been shot. Your shoulder, it's bleeding."

He moved his other hand up to the afflicted shoulder and fingered the wound. The material of his shirt was slightly torn, the blood had seeped through making it stick to the skin, but beside the sting he could now feel after prodding the cut, it was nothing. Superficial. He'd been lucky. The bullet had only grazed him and he doubted it was even bleeding any more. They'd been lying behind the bush taking cover when one of the bullets had ricocheted off the gate and hit him. He'd bit back the moment of pain, determined to hide it from her until they were safe.

He'd almost tuned the pain out, disregarding the wound. The panic in her voice had cause a moment of alarm, but he grinned as he went to look back at Elizabeth, to tell her in a week or so there'd be no sign of it, but as quick as it came the grin was gone again. Her eyes were wide in shock and her face was a deathly pallor. Unable to find the cause of her concern, he leaned forward to sit upright, gently placing a hand on each of her arms made her glance up at him.

"Elizabeth, what is it? What's the matter?"

"John, the blood. You've been shot." Her voice was quiet and shook a little.

"Yeah I know. It'll be fine. Just a little scratch is all. Look, it's not even bleeding any more."

"No. Your shirt. It's on your pants too." Her voice quavering a little bit more this time.

John looked down. She was right. There was blood along the bottom of his shirt, the black fabric making it hard to see in just a glance, but on the gray of his pants it stood out in stark contrast. It didn't make any sense. The nick on his shoulder had barely been enough to soak through. Where had all this come from?

Before he could think of an answer she was forcing him back down into a lying position. "Elizabeth, what are you doing?"

"John you've got to lay still, the medics will be here soon and then Carson can find the problem and fix you right up, okay?"

She was feeling light headed and in the back of her own mind Elizabeth could feel herself start to unravel. The sleepless nights, the buzz from their escape, their rough landing, the blood, were all too much and the energy seeped out of her. She couldn't see any other apparent injuries, but it was like there was blood everywhere. It was starting to pool now at his side in between where they sat, slowly creeping out over the surface of the cool floor.

Her shaking hand pushed her hair back from her face and dropped down again to her side, fingers found themselves being dipped into the ever expanding puddle. She had to fight then, the sudden urge to loose her lunch. Her reaction puzzled her. Never before had her senses protested against the sight nor the feel of blood, but the coppery scent of it drifted up now, invading her nostrils. She felt so weak. And what was taking the medics so long?

Watching her, John noticed, in less than a minute even more colour had drained from her face. Her eyes were franticly shifting all over him trying to find where the blood had come from, he could tell she was barely restraining herself from pulling at his clothes when no place was visible. Keeping herself sat upright looked as though it were becoming a challenge, her hands were trembling and when she choked back a gag he sprang forward to sit up again. This was all wrong. The fleeting worry he'd felt before had mutated into out right panic now. She wasn't the squeamish type and she was definitely no stranger to the infirmary when the life of one of her team was at risk. She'd seen the gory results of war up close as it came through the gate and she wouldn't even bat an eyelid.

Why was the sight of his bloody shirt bothering her this much? He gave himself a mental once over, just making sure there weren't any other injuries his mind hadn't registered yet, but he was fine. A few bumps and bruises as expected, the graze on his shoulder and the promise of a cracking headache sometime in the near future, but aside from that he was sure he was fine.

She had her hands on his shoulders again, intending to push him back to the floor, but she had little strength left in her. The ache in her shoulder flared through her chest making her inhale sharply and her arms fell back. Dammit! Her confused mind berated her feeble body. She had to get John taken care of first, her own pain could wait until later when there was time. Elizabeth thought she heard someone call her name then. She shook her head trying to chase away the distractions in her mind and looked up to find John's intense eyes inches from her own.

When she had put her hands on him, her movement jostled her jacket and it was then he had seen. She didn't hear when he called her name but their eyes connected seconds later. He placed a hand softly on her face, fingers gently cupping her cheek. Her skin was cold and clammy to the touch. Seeing that she had ceased her attempts to get him to lie down, his other hand reached up under the shoulder of her jacket, pulling it back to reveal what was hidden underneath.

The adrenalin from the chase on the planet along with the shock of their bumpy landing on their return, had masked the pain of the bullet that had perforated the area at the top of her chest, just underneath her collar bone. Only now as realisation kicked in could she feel the pain. Nerve endings were on fire as John carefully guided her to the ground. She couldn't believe it. She'd been shot. The pool of blood they were kneeling in was hers. What she had told herself was the stress of the last few days catching up with her, making her tired, was in fact, the life draining out of her. The edge of her vision was beginning to gray but the shock of the sudden lull into unconsciousness jerked her awake, her eyes focusing on one of the figures floating above her. It was John, he was trying to tell her something and by the look on his face she knew it must be important, but the level of noise in the room seemed to drown out his words, all she could hear was static. She blinked slowly and willed herself to concentrate, blocking out everything but him, she strained her ears, her eyes watching his lips form the words.

John was leaning over her, a hand keeping pressure on the gun shot wound as he tried to stem the flow of blood pouring out though his fingers. He turned his head to where Lorne was. "Lorne get over here now! Elizabeth's been shot. I need help!"

The Major had happened to look back at the two of them when he'd heard the distress in Elizabeth's voice and was already charging towards the pair on the floor, Mathews was right on his heels. "What happened!"

"She must have been hit just as we came through, we were running for the gate and she tripped. I didn't think anything of it 'cause she just kept going...I thought she stumbled, that's all."

Lorne took over, his hands replacing John's as he moved to shake her, trying to keep her awake. He looked up at Mathews who was on the comm, radioing for Beckett's team to get their asses in gear, if they didn't get here soon, they were gonna loose her. People up in the control gallery were aware now of what was happening and anxious faces lined the balcony. Eyes back on the task of his hands, he whispered to himself, "Goddamn, there's a lot of blood."

John had a hand around her jaw, holding it so she was looking up at him, his bloody fingers leaving smears on her pale white skin. "Elizabeth, look at me. Can you hear me? You have to keep your eyes open, okay? You have to stay awake just a little bit longer. Elizabeth? Please, just focus. Stay awake." He couldn't tell if any of this was getting through to her. She was slipping away right in front of him and he couldn't do a damn thing to save her. He couldn't help. He took her hand firmly in his, " 'Lizabeth, listen to me. You didn't come all that way to save my life just so I had to watch you die."

Her small hand wrapped in his, squeezed his fingers then and he could have cried. She heard him. The next thing he knew, the connection between them was severed as strong arms pulled him away. He tried to fight them off but they held him fast.

"Don't worry Colonel," It was Lorne speaking to him. "The med team have got her now, she's going to be okay. Come on, let's get you down to the infirmary too, let the doctors take a look at that graze, then we can go check on Dr. Weir. Come on sir."

John got up and obediently followed the Major. His legs were shaking and his body felt numb, but he kept walking. In the gate room, they left behind the confused and frightened people with nothing but a bloody mess for an excuse as to what had just happened.

* * *

**A/N:** If you thought I was evil before, how did you like that! Now go review or I won't tell you how it all ends... 


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Right boys and girls, this is it, the end of the road, the final countdown, the moment of truth! Oh what fun it's been writing this story, I just hope you've enjoyed reading it. To everyone who has left a kind comment - thank you for your support and the encouragement. To those who have yet to review - there's still time yet! Ok thanks again and without any further delay, here it is, the last chapter...

* * *

Chapter Fourteen 

Katherine was a seasoned nurse. She had trained with the USAF and had served near to ten years with them, the last two here in Atlantis. During her career, she thought she had seen it all. War was a messy business and she did her best to patch up the broken pieces of what used to be men, to try and make them whole again. She had learned to form a clinical detachment with the patients she treated, to leave the work at the office when the shift was over, but here it was different. Out here they were alone, this small community was tightly knit and depended on each other to survive. So when a mission got botched and she found herself redressing the wounds of a friend she had just had lunch with that day, she felt it harder to distance herself from the job.

Tonight was no different. In a curtained off section away from the main entrance of the infirmary, sat a man who had logged in more than his fare share of time here, more than any man deserved. His file a work in progress, cataloguing the many ways in which a man could be hurt, torn apart, then put back together again, many of these things she had witnessed first hand. He had been brought back from the point of death and once from beyond that, but he always managed to hold on, refusing to be beaten. Tonight, she had finally seen the look of defeat take root in his handsome features, but it wasn't for him, the need to be healed this day.

Between the opening of the surgical screens that had been erected to provide at least some privacy from curious eyes that had come to enquire on the well being of their leader, she could see the way his shoulders were hunched over his usually proud and impressive form. His hair stood out at all angles, more dishevelled than normal and his checks were red and swollen, the tell-tale sign of his tears of despair. He looked small and vulnerable, things she had never thought would apply to this man and the sight shocked her, to say the least. Colonel Sheppard was never a man who cried, even when every part of his body would be in agony, he had kept it in himself, almost as if he was able to draw strength from the pain itself. Right now, all his attention was focused on the smaller, delicate hand, resting softly within his own. His lips moved forming silent words of comfort, whether they were for him or the owner of the hand, Katherine was unsure and she was loath to disturb this moment but she still had a job to do. Moving closer she cleared her throat, alerting the Colonel to her presence.

"Colonel Sheppard, I'm sorry to disturb you sir, but its time for Dr. Weir's check up."

The Colonel looked up at her with unseeing eyes, she wasn't sure if he'd heard her but then shook his head so he could focus. "Do I..." His throat was parched making his voice sound scratchy, he swallowed, licking his lips and tried again. "Do you need me to leave?"

"No sir, you can stay. I won't take more than a couple of minutes," Katherine didn't have the heart to kick him out, even if sitting here like this wasn't doing him any good, so she added, "If you like though, there's a fresh pot of coffee at the nurses station. Feel free to help yourself."

With the aide of his hand on the bed rail, he pushed himself to his feet. "Thank you, I think I will get some. I won't be long."

Of this she had no doubt. The Colonel had been a constant presence in the infirmary wanting to stay at Dr. Weir's side since she was brought in. Dr. Beckett had Major Lorne stay to keep an eye on him while she had been in surgery. For a change he had refused to leave the doctor's domain, insisting on being there to hear from Beckett the instant he had finished, and it was a good job Lorne had remained too...

It was well into the night when Dr. Beckett had retrieved the bullet, lodged deep within the soft tissue of her shoulder. He and his surgical team had been working hard, they had steamed the bleeding and repaired the damaged blood vessels. Satisfied that their job was done he had closed the wound himself wanting to see this through to the end, instead of letting one of the nurses handle it.

"Okay, good work people," Carson commended them. "Now, let's get her into recovery, if her condition changes come and get me, I'm going to speak with Colonel Sheppard."

Carson peeled off the latex gloves and scrubs, dumping them in the bio-hazard bin on the way out the door. He could see the Colonel slumped in his chair on the other side of the long room where he had been waiting, Lorne was with him, a silent sentinel, perched on the end of his seat, ready to jump into action if needs be. He stopped in the threshold taking in the sight before him, when the sound of sporadic beeping from the other room got his attention. There was a shout then from one of the nurses.

"Dr. Beckett, you better come back in here, her blood pressure just dropped like a stone!"

"What?"

The question had disturbed John and Lorne, both men now on their feet, rushing towards Carson.

"Doc what's going on? Is she all right? Can I see her?" The barrage of questions came from John as he peered over the smaller man blocking his way into the operating room.

"Colonel, I'm not sure, just stay here while I find out," instructed Beckett as he gave Lorne a stern look that said 'keep him out the way', then headed back in the room.

"Come on sir, let's leave the doctor to his work," suggested Lorne.

John didn't move, he just stared at the door as though he could will it to disappear and show him what was hidden behind it. "I have to find out what's going on."

This is what Lorne had been waiting for. The Colonel had come to the end of his tether, not knowing what was happening was driving him mad and he made to burst into the room to find out for himself. Lorne stepped in front of him catching his arms. "Sir, Dr. Beckett doesn't need us in the way while he's working. Just give him some more time and he'll explain everything."

"Get out of my way Lorne! I'm sick of waiting, I want some answers," shouted John.

"No sir. We have to wait until he's finished. If you go charging in there now demanding everyone's attention, you could endanger her life."

That seemed to make some impact with John and he took his arms back from Lorne. "Fine I won't go in, but I still have to see." He turned and strode away towards the stairs that would take him up to the observation deck above the surgical bay.

"Sir stop!" Lorne pleaded."Do you really want to see her like that?"

John didn't stop, but he faced Lorne as he slowed his pace and backed up the first of the steps. "She could die Lorne. I have to see her."

Lorne took a deep breath. He was still getting used to the revelation that the rumours had been true and Elizabeth and John were indeed together. The man he was talking to wasn't just in danger of loosing a friend, but it was his partner who's life was in the balance. He didn't really have any experience in advising someone with this kind of grief and he was damn sure if their places were switched, it would be him backing up those stairs.

"Yes sir, we knew that there was always a possibility that Dr. Weir may be beyond saving when she was brought in. Right now Beckett is in there with his team doing everything they can from preventing that outcome. But you have to consider what it is you'd see if you look in that room, 'cause you have to know, it ain't gonna be pretty. Seeing someone you care about lying on the slab is an awful thing, I know, believe me." He had to pause then as he tucked fragmented images from his past back into the box in his mind. "That will not look like the Dr. Weir we all know and if she dies, that picture of her will taint every memory you own. You won't be able to remember the way she was without seeing the things in that room. Would you want that? Would she want that for you?"

John stopped, shocked at what Lorne had said to him. He had no idea to whom he had been referring, but from the look on his face, they'd been close. Nevertheless, he words managed to sink in far enough for him to think about what he was doing. He was torn, he needed to see her, to know what was going on, but Lorne was right, if she were to die, this was not the last image he wanted to have of her. Slowly he came down the steps coming to a halt next to the other man. "You're right Major. I just...I..." He didn't have anymore words.

"It's okay, come on, lets go back so Beckett can find us when he's done." Lorne had led him back to the chairs where they had been before and they hadn't moved again until Beckett had come for them.

Beckett had heard John shouting at Major Lorne to get out of his way and was thankful that the man had had the nerve to stand up to him. He hadn't heard anything else from outside so he concluded that either Lorne had decked him or talked the anxious Colonel down, which was a skill in and of itself, but he could only worry about one patient at a time and right now, Elizabeth was his top priority.

The nurse was right to call him when she did, Elizabeth's blood pressure was dangerously low, at first he had thought the repairs they'd made to the blood vessels weren't holding. He was checking under the clean gauze he'd put over the gunshot wound when an tense voice from the nurse told him, "Dr. Beckett? Dr. Weir is bleeding out."

He'd thought as much but the freshly sewn up wound looked fine.

"No Doctor, not from her shoulder. Here. Was Dr. Weir pregnant?"

Carson's face was aghast. The medical robe and bed sheets at the top of her legs were soaked with blood. "Oh no," he whispered. "Here, help me with this!" He'd got straight to work with the aid of two nurses, but it was no use. They couldn't do anything to save the child and had required several units of blood to compensate for what she lost. Eventually, it came to an end, they were all tired and distraught, but Carson still had to see John. That was going to be harder than anything else he's accomplished tonight.

When Beckett had left the surgical bay the second time, the two men were in exactly the same place they'd been in before, but they'd seen him this time and stood to greet him.

Neither John nor Carson wanted to be first to speak. The question and the answer to difficult to voice. Lorne could see the trouble they were having as they faced each other, eyes imploring, but no words were forthcoming, so he broke the ice himself. "Doc, whatever the result, you and your team have been hard at it for hours. No one can doubt that you've done all you can."

The other men were both grateful for Lorne's tact. In one go, he'd both asked of Dr. Weir's condition and softened the blow for Carson if it was bad news.

Carson nodded, licking his lips, trying to get some moisture on them. "I have a very skilled team and they did well tonight. Elizabeth will fully recover from her injuries, but its not going to be easy, she's going to need to stay here for a while and take things very slowly or she could risk doing herself a damage. However, I know she has a strong support network amongst her friends and they will all be willing to help her in anyway possible."

The relief of Carson's prognosis made John buckle at the knees and found he had to seat himself again or they'd be scraping his butt up off the floor. He wasn't usually a religious man but he sent out a prayer to any god or higher power that was listening. She was going to recover, she was as strong in body as she was in will and she was going to pull through. Like Carson said, she wouldn't be short of help while she was getting better, he would make sure of that, he would keep the business running until she was fit enough to take over again.

Lorne was busy shaking Beckett's hand, congratulating him on a job well done, saying all the things he couldn't right then. His mind was a jumbled mess, his thinking process completely whacked, but something kept on getting through, catching his attention. He tried to assemble his thoughts into some kind of order, what was it he couldn't quite seem to make sense of? He turned down the volume on Lorne and Beckett's conversation, concentrating on the little bit of information that was starting to stir up his panic. Something wasn't right, but Carson had said she was fine. Everything went quiet then, the two men had stopped talking, their part of the infirmary was silent in his moment of clarity.

He wasn't entirely sure how he knew, Carson hadn't mentioned it, but there was something about his somber face that said it wasn't all good news. His stomach clenched, churning his insides, if he'd had anything to eat in the last day he was sure he would have lost it right then. He needed to speak with Carson in private, right now, but he had to get rid of Lorne first. He opened his mouth and the words tumbled out on their own. "Lorne, there's probably a few nervous people waiting around to hear what's going on. Would you please take care of things for the rest of the night? I think I'm gonna have to check myself in for the time being. It's all catching up with me. Can you handle it?"

"I'll get straight on it sir. You should rest up, you've been through a lot this week." Lorne gave them both a quick grin, then set out to put some order back into city.

Carson and John were alone now and again they found it hard to find the right words. John was still in his seat so Carson bent down so he was eye level with him, he was going to suggest they got John into a bed so he could rest a while, but John beat him to the punch.

"Tell me," he whispered. "The truth. All of it this time."

This was the worst part of Carson's job, but he wouldn't put it off any longer. "John, we were able to save Elizabeth, but there was too much strain on her heart. The blood loss weakened her greatly and her pressure dropped, that's when I came out before, remember?"

John did nothing to indicate that he did, but Carson went on. "We did everything we could, but it was already too late. Her body had to sacrifice something in order to survive."

"She lost the baby?"

"Yes son, I'm afraid so."

John felt himself falling then but Carson's strong arms held him steady, keeping him in the chair. He tasted blood in his mouth and realised that he'd put his teeth through his already burst lip. He didn't feel the pain like he should have, but the blood rolled down his chin and dripped on the pristine white floor.

"Oh, now, what've you done? Let me see that." Carson gently lifted John's chin to see the cut. "It'll be fine, come on, I'll clean it up for you."

He pulled John to his feet and started leading him towards a private room with a bed in it, but John stopped and looked back at the drops of blood on the floor. "I'm sorry Carson...I've made a mess on your clean floor."

That was all he said before he collapsed into the doctor, his heartache and anguish breaking him at last. With no treatment or magical cure to help, all Carson could do now was hold on to his friend as he let it all out. Offering soft words of consolation now and again, though he doubted much of it was getting through, what with the state he was in, but it was more just to reassure him he wasn't alone. He didn't try to stop his rare display of emotions and let the tears come. If he didn't allow himself to cry now John would bottle it all up, keeping it inside so he could put on a brave face for Elizabeth when she found out. Carson couldn't help but be moved at John's distress and soon hot tears of his own were staining his cheeks.

It seemed as though time had stopped for them while they expressed their sorrow as they stood in the empty room. It could have been minutes or hours that had passed, neither of them knew, but control was slowly re-exerted and they managed to get John cleaned up, changed and medicated. Carson had thought to get him sedated and into bed so he could get some sleep, but John had other ideas, insisting on sitting in with Elizabeth, in case she woke up. After what they'd just shared, Carson couldn't refuse.

And so John had stayed there, next to her through the night until the nurse had come to check on them.

He had been whispering assurances to Elizabeth while she slept, when a polite cough from beyond the screen made him look up. Katherine had come to do whatever it was nurses do for people who had been shot and subsequently suffered a miscarriage. She had told him he didn't have to leave but tempted him away for a minute to get some coffee. When he returned, steaming cup in hand, she informed him that everything looked good. Beckett's careful stitching would only leave the smallest of scars. With a final glance at the chart at the end of the bed and a couple of additional notes of her own, she was gone, leaving them alone again.

The coffee was a welcome treat to his parched mouth, but the caffeine boost just wasn't enough to keep his eyes open any longer. He took her hand once more and brought the chair closer so he could rest his head on the edge of her bed. He placed a tender kiss on her fingers, then let his weary mind go to a place where he didn't have to think about how he was going to break the terrible news to Elizabeth.

Some time later, in the early hours of morning she started to stir. Her body ached all over and her memory was a little fuzzy. She knew from the smell of disinfectant that she was in the infirmary, the reason why or how she came to be here, not quite clear. Testing what was sore, she wiggled her toes and legs, arms and fingers, relieved that she could and pleasantly surprised to find John sleeping soundly, his head on the side of her bed and her hand caught up in his. It all couldn't be that bad then. The small movements were enough to tire her, so she turned in her side to face John and went back to sleep.

When Elizabeth woke again, it was daylight this time. She didn't open her eyes, not just yet, she gave her senses time to put together the bits and pieces of what she could remember. Working backwards, she recalled briefly waking in the middle of the night. She had been in the infirmary and John was with her. Without moving, she accessed the sensations in her hand and recognised the feeling of skin touching warm skin. He was still with her, so nothing had changed since earlier. Before that she knew she had been off world, she had gone to rescue John. There had been running and gunfire and the stargate had rolled steadily away from them across the field. Then she had been in the gate room, back in Atlantis, but something had been wrong, she was looking up at the ceiling, a blurry image on John talking to her. There had been blood, lots of it and...oh my god..."I was shot!"

That last thought had been too much to keep in her head and the words were spoken aloud. She opened her eyes and tried to ease her sore body up in the bed.

"Elizabeth?" John had been dozing in his chair, the sudden action from the bed brought him back to life. "Hey, hey, take it easy." He helped her, propping up a pillow behind her back, then called out through the curtains. Hey Doc, Elizabeth's awake!"

Turning back to her his heart was breaking all over again. He pushed an errant strand of hair back off her face, the small gesture enough to calm her after her abrupt waking. He had been waiting all night and all morning for her to wake up and give him a sign she really was going to be okay, but now the time had come, he didn't think he could bring himself to tell her what had happened. Carson of course, had offered to break the news to her, but John had declined. This was something that had to come from him.

Sitting near her on the side of the bed, he took her hand again."It's okay, you're gonna be fine," he told her. "I thought you were going to sleep all day."

"I still might. I feel like I've been awake for days." Then she remembered that she had been.

"Elizabeth, it's good to see you awake," said Carson as he came in through the screens. "But you shouldn't sit up for too long. Now let's see how you're doing. Are you in any pain?"

She had to admit it, everything felt sore. "Umm, it feels like every inch of me is bruised and now you mention it, my shoulder is throbbing."

"Yes well you're bound to feel a wee bit sore after your dramatic entrance yesterday, lucky for you, you had a Colonel to break your fall."

The hard landing on the gate room floor coming back to her, she turned to John. "Then why aren't you in a bed? You must have taken it worse than me?"

"Few bumps is all. Don't worry about me."

Elizabeth thought he was being a bit quieter than usual. The smirk she had expected at what Carson had said, didn't appear. His grip was firm on her hand and he was having trouble looking at her when Carson spoke.

"As for your shoulder, you'll be glad to know that the surgery to extract the bullet and repair the surrounding area was a complete success. It'll heal nicely so long as you don't over exert yourself. You're going to need a lot of rest the next few weeks or so."

"Carson, I've seen men come back from missions with worse than a gunshot wound and bounce right back. Is it really going to take that long to heal?"

Now Carson was having trouble keeping eye contact with her and a sense of dread started to creep up into her chest. "What's the matter?"

"I'm...I'm going to give you some meds for the pain, they'll knock you out in a wee while. Then I'm going to give the two of you a bit of privacy. John's been waiting for you to wake up."

"Okay..." She watched Carson administer the meds through the port on the I.V. that was feeding her a bag of fluids. Once he was done he walked to the edge of the screens then stopped to look at them both before pulling them tight shut. She turned in John then. "John, what's going on?"

When he looked up and their eyes finally meet she realised why he had been having trouble looking at her. There were unshed tears gathering, threatening to spill down his tired face. She hadn't been paying attention before but regarding him now, she saw the heavy bags that told her he'd had even less sleep than her. The stubble was growing in thick without the use of a razor this last week. She would have thought he would have gotten rid of it as soon as he could on their return, but he hadn't even done that. The spark she always saw when she looked into his eyes was missing and if she was worried by Carson's words, John's sorry face terrified her.

She sat forward so they were closer and reached out to touch his cheek with the back of her fingers. She had to suck her bottom lip into her mouth to force back the smallest of sobs. Tears of her own were already starting to crest the rim of her eyes. His arm came up from his lap and put it around her, his hand on the small of her back, but still he remained silent.

"John, please, you're scaring me."

His had came up then to cup her face, while he found some resolve to put in his own. "Elizabeth, the operation, Carson said it was going well, he thought he had finished and he came out to see me, to tell me how you were doing, but he got called back in." John was starting to struggle about how to explain, so he fell back on the words Carson had used for him. "He said, your blood pressure, it dropped, your life was in danger and to protect itself, your body had to make a sacrifice so you could live."

Elizabeth didn't need to hear the rest to know the truth after that, but she didn't have to believe it. "No. Please, no. Don't say it. Please, no, no."

John wished for them both that it was a lie, that he could tell her everything was fine, but he couldn't. "Elizabeth, the baby, it just couldn't hold on. Carson tried, but he couldn't fix the damage and the baby died."

"No, John. I can still feel... It can't be right, I... I don't feel any different than yesterday. Please, no!"

The torrent of tears couldn't be stopped after that. Everything she had wanted had been cruelly snatched away from her. The exclusive little family she and John had been looking forward to becoming a part of was missing a member and she couldn't even remember exactly what had happened to her. John's arms were around her now, holding on to her, but the comfort she had always found within his strong embrace was short in coming. He was telling her she was okay, they would get through this, that he loved her, but it made it all the worse.

She could never forgive herself for letting him down like this, it was her own stupid bull headedness that landed her in this mess. If she had listened to Lorne, let him do things his way, she would never have been anywhere near Athen or his planet. She would have been here where she should be, safely waiting for them to do what they were trained to do and then John would have had a reason to come back to her alive and well. Her foolishness had put him in danger and her and now they both had to suffer the consequences.

Emptiness began to consume her. All thought was on this one moment and everything else was falling away. Her body was numb, the physical pain she had complained of before was insignificant compared to what her mind was trying to process. She couldn't get passed this one thought. She'd lost the baby, _they_ had lost the baby. Of all the things that had hurt her in her lifetime, this came above them all. Despair was all she could feel, squeezing in on her chest making it hard to breathe.

For a moment, it registered somewhere in her mind, amid the chaos that denied any rational thought, she wondered if she might have said these things aloud because he called to her, pulling her back from the edge and when she wouldn't answer or look at him, he brought his hands up to her face and made her see him. "Elizabeth, are you listening to me? I know the rescue plan was your idea and because it didn't go like we wanted it to, it doesn't mean that it's your fault. Do you hear? You can't blame yourself."

"But if I hadn't gone..."

"Then someone else would have to have gone instead, and a lot more people would have probably been hurt in the process. You saved the lives of those people."

"But I couldn't keep our child alive. How can you even look at me again without this hanging over us?"

"How can I look at you?" John knew her well and like he suspected, she was placing the blame squarely and her shoulders. "You don't get to take the blame for this Elizabeth. Things were out of our control from the minute the gate address was taken from the data base. Too many things had an influence over what happened. We can spend all the time you want, pointing fingers, assigning blame to everyone that made a decision this last week, but it won't change anything."

"But..."

"No, no buts. You know how I feel about you, this doesn't change it. You told me once if we were going to be together, it was to be a relationship of equal halves and that still stands. We get to share the pain of our loss together. We get to comfort each other when it all gets too much and we learn to move on. As devastating as this is, we're strong and even more so together. I don't want this to be the end of our story, the tragedy that defines the rest of our lives."

"You can really forgive me?"

"Don't be silly." He stroked her face gently, "There's nothing to forgive."

That made her tears come anew, but she wasn't the only one. He showed her his grief as she showed hers, just like he said. They were together in this and would be in other things. He was right, this couldn't be what made them, there was too much they'd been through this to let it destroy them.

Nothing could stop her from throwing her arms around him then as they cried and he returned the gesture just as fiercely. They remained like that until there were no more tears, but couldn't bear to part from what little solace there was to be found. Elizabeth shifted over as far as the hospital bed would allow, making room for him to slide in next to her.

With not a drop of energy left between them they closed their eyes, sleep not far behind. Elizabeth found with John lying there pressed close to her, it was easier to breathe now. He brushed a chaste kiss on her forehead and she believed somewhere down the line things could get better. When she woke up in the morning she knew the pain would be just as raw as it was now, but one day, they would wake up and be able to smile at each other like they had before.

* * *

A/N: So... What cha think? Hit that review button!

Also, I've been having some ideas for a sequel. Good idea, bad idea? I'm not sure if I should leave things as they are or try doing a follow up to these events. Would you guys come back and read that if I did? What would you like to see happen after all this?Anyway, let me know what you think and I may be seeing you soon.

See ya next time...


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